Sponsors (2)
The bill accelerates advanced geothermal development—potentially expanding clean, reliable power and jobs—while increasing federal spending and posing local environmental and equity risks that require careful oversight and safeguards.
Electricity consumers and taxpayers: the bill funds R&D and testing of advanced/supercritical geothermal that could expand U.S. clean, reliable baseload power and help decarbonize the grid.
Researchers, developers, and energy companies: the Department of Energy support and dedicated grants accelerate next-generation geothermal research and commercialization, shortening time-to-market for new technologies.
State agencies, developers, and project planners: expanded public subsurface and borehole data will improve project planning, reduce exploration costs, and lower barriers to siting geothermal projects.
Taxpayers: authorizing deep drilling campaigns (including very deep boreholes) could require large appropriations beyond the modest annual line item, increasing federal spending obligations.
Rural host communities and local environments: deep drilling and injection raise risks of water impacts and induced seismicity that could harm local health, property, and ecosystems if not tightly managed.
Small businesses, new entrants, and students: concentrating federal funding and designated centers may advantage established programs and larger players, making it harder for smaller or newer actors to compete for resources and opportunities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands geothermal R&D definitions, requires standardized, periodically updated drilling/subsurface data sharing, and commissions >8 km exploration boreholes.
Official title: Amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to direct research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities in support of next-generation geothermal systems in various conditions, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Catherine Marie Cortez Masto · Last progress April 28, 2026
Updates and expands the federal geothermal research program by adding new technical definitions (including closed‑loop and supercritical geothermal), broadening what counts as advanced tools to explicitly include machine learning, and requiring improved, standardized, and regularly updated geothermal drilling and subsurface data sharing. It directs formal data sharing between the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior, and mandates deep regional exploration drilling (deeper than 8 km) commissioned by the Interior to improve deep-heat mapping, with resulting data made publicly available. One insertion in the draft text is unresolved and noted as an incomplete edit.