A significant milestone in clean electricity has been reached, as Southern California Edison is now backing the largest new geothermal power development in the U.S., providing 400 megawatts of electricity—enough to power approximately 400,000 homes. The electricity will be purchased from Fervo Energy, a Houston-based geothermal company, which is drilling up to 125 wells in southwest Utah.
This project is expected to significantly reduce the reliance on traditional power plants that contribute to climate change. Wilson Ricks, an energy systems researcher at Princeton University, emphasized the potential impact on global decarbonization if this technology is successfully implemented and becomes more cost-effective.
“If these purchases help to get this technology off the ground, it could be massively impactful for global decarbonization,” he said.
Geothermal energy, which currently makes up less than half a percent of the U.S.’s total large-scale electricity generation, could see increased adoption through the use of advanced drilling techniques borrowed from the oil and gas industry. Sarah Jewett, vice president of strategy at Fervo, noted that this new deal demonstrates the viability of clean power in meeting growing electricity demands.
