Government and Private Sector Roles in U.S. Geothermal Development

摘要

During the decade of the 1990s, with a trend toward electricity deregulation, the low price of natural gas, and improvements in the technology of gas-fired power generation, the market for new geothermal power in the United States was nearly nonexistent. As natural gas prices rose—with a parallel rise in wholesale and retail electricity prices—during the next decade, interest was renewed in geothermal and wind energy. In particular, some 16 states (including Nevada and California) enacted laws mandating that Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) include a percentage of renewable energy in their portfolio of electrical energy generating resources.