E141: How Utah Might Crack Next-Generation Geothermal

Utah Clean Energy climate scientist and energy analyst Logan Mitchell joins Molly Wood to explain how a deeply conservative state can still become a proving ground for clean energy—by focusing on affordability, reliability, and coalition-building. They dig into the rapid rise of next‑generation geothermal in Utah (including the DOE’s FORGE project and private-sector follow‑on development), why geothermal could deliver clean firm power faster than new gas turbines or nuclear, and why this is one of the rare climate technologies with real bipartisan momentum.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why Utah has become a surprising clean-energy leader (and why “business-friendly” permitting can accelerate deployment)
• How Utah Clean Energy works in practice: intervening in utility regulatory dockets, stress-testing long-term resource plans, and advocating for an affordable, reliable, clean power mix
• The grid value proposition: geothermal as clean firm power that complements wind/solar—especially during “quiet, cold” post-storm stretches when both wind and solar can underperform
• A plain-English breakdown of key grid terms:
• Baseload: power that runs steadily
• Dispatchable: power you can ramp up/down when needed
• Why geothermal may become more dispatchable (turn pumps off midday, produce more during high-price evening hours)
• Why Utah is the current hotspot:
• Public-private knowledge transfer from DOE’s FORGE research site to nearby commercial projects
• Streamlined, iterative permitting that reduces uncertainty for first-of-a-kind projects
• Strong geothermal resources across Utah and the broader West
• The scale and speed: a first ~100 MW phase expected to come online quickly, with expansion potential that rivals the footprint of major fossil plants—plus transmission constraints as the near-term limiter
• The politics: geothermal’s appeal across the aisle—jobs, energy security, reliability, and domestic know-how—and why keeping it “above the partisan fray” matters
• The workforce bridge: geothermal as a near 1:1 skills match with oil & gas subsurface expertise—extracting heat instead of hydrocarbons

Why this matters (big picture):

Next‑gen geothermal offers a credible path to fast, scalable, cost-competitive clean firm power—potentially filling the reliability gap that makes high-renewables grids harder to manage, while staying politically durable in places where climate language alone doesn’t land.

Links:

• Utah Clean Energy: https://utahcleanenergy.org/
• Everybody in the Pool: https://www.everybodyinthepool.com/
• Subscribe to the Everybody in the Pool newsletter: https://www.mollywood.co/
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