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Utah FORGE research seen as key to enhanced geothermal systems; project funding faces a cliff
Summary
Researchers and industry executives told a House Natural Resources subcommittee that Utah FORGE’s field laboratory has advanced EGS tools and drilling techniques but needs continued DOE funding or wells may be plugged and research halted.
At a congressional hearing in Cedar City, Joseph Moore, research professor at the University of Utah and principal investigator for Utah FORGE, described the federal field laboratory and its role in developing enhanced geothermal systems (EGS).
Utah FORGE operates a field‑scale underground laboratory where tools and techniques for creating geothermal reservoirs are tested and shared with industry, Moore said. “Utah Forge is the only field scale laboratory in the world dedicated to EGS research,” he testified, and manages “28 external R and D contracts with private companies, national laboratories, and universities.”
Moore highlighted several technical results: new drill bit designs that increased rate of penetration by about 50 percent and stimulation tests that recovered about 90 percent of injected water at roughly 380 degrees Fahrenheit. He said those advances have reduced drilling risk and encouraged private investment; Fervo Energy has sited a project adjacent to the FORGE site.
FORGE’s operating contract began in October 2024 and runs through 2028, Moore said, and he warned the committee of an imminent funding cliff. “Unless DOE provides any additional funding, we may have to plug and abandon the wells and bring the surface back to grade,” he told members, adding that the project’s data repository is publicly available.
Witnesses and members discussed FORGE’s role in derisking technologies and attracting private capital, and Representative Malloy and Tim Latimer (Fervo Energy) described the site as crucial to private‑sector investments in next‑generation geothermal.
No committee action was taken; members requested written follow‑up on technical and funding questions. Moore urged continued federal support to complete the experimental program and preserve the data and infrastructure the site has produced.
