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Committee backs GeoPower Act to pilot milestone-based geothermal demonstrations
Summary
The House Science Committee ordered HR 8437, the GeoPower Act, favorably reported after adopting amendments that create milestone-based DOE demonstrations, prioritize projects on or near Indian land and require project reporting; Republicans raised concerns over a large authorized funding increase.
The House Science Committee on Thursday approved HR 8437, the GeoPower Act, endorsing a milestone-based Department of Energy demonstration program to scale next-generation geothermal power and ordered the bill favorably reported to the House.
Rep. Begich (Alaska), sponsor of the amendment in the nature of a substitute, said the bill sets up performance-based financing to reduce drilling risk and requires at least three demonstration projects in three states with separate sponsors to generate publicly available data. "Milestone based financing is designed to help break that cycle," Begich said.
Rep. Self objected to the proposal's cost, saying the bill "authorizes up to a $150,000,000 per year compared to $21,000,000 per year for the prior demonstration program," and urged rejection on fiscal grounds. Proponents responded that the larger authorization is intended to support the scale and risk profile needed to attract private capital and deploy utility-scale projects.
Rep. Bonamici offered amendments to require DOE reporting on milestones and to prioritize sites with prior federal investment (for example, Newberry Volcano work in Oregon); Rep. Gallagher praised geothermal potential in California and supported prioritizing projects that would supply more than 30 megawatts to underserved regions.
The committee adopted multiple amendments by voice vote, approved the ANS as amended, and ordered HR 8437 favorably reported; the transcript records voice votes and the chair announced the ayes have it but does not include roll-call tallies.
Next steps: HR 8437, as amended, will be placed on the House calendar for further consideration.
