BLM Offers Geothermal Leases in Utah, Idaho, and Oregon

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced in early November that it will hold a competitive lease sale for geothermal energy development on 61 parcels totaling nearly 200,000 acres in the states of Utah, Oregon, and Idaho. The lease sale will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, on December 19 and will include 47 parcels in western and southwestern Utah, totaling 146,339 acres; 11 parcels in Oregon, totaling 41,362 acres; and 3 parcels in south central Idaho, totaling 8,676 acres. The lease sale targets three states that have significant geothermal energy resources but have seen limited development so far: to date, Utah has only two geothermal power plants, Idaho has one, and Oregon has none. See the BLM press release on the Utah parcels, and the BLM notices on the parcels in Oregon and Idaho.