California’s recent history with energy development should have taught us some valuable lessons; mainly, that we can’t make decisions on whether to develop energy sources today based solely on today’s needs. We must look to the future, or eventually pay the price when future energy needs are not met. We should be moving projects forward today that will benefit us down the road.
Remember the energy crisis of the early 2000s? Governor Gray Davis got most of the blame at the time, but in fact it was a man-made disaster resulting from many years of inaction. At that time, we had not built a new power plant in California in over 30 years. Our leaders had continually failed to address the future electricity needs of California. Until finally, the lights went out and they had no choice.
It is with that lesson in mind that we should consider the pending Geysers geothermal energy projects in Sonoma County, currently stalled because of a bureaucratic requirement for securing long-term contracts before breaking ground.
But a rational evaluation of California’s present and future energy provides a compelling case for building these projects now.
California’s population will grow to 50 million people by mid-century, and its demand for energy will grow accordingly. Geothermal is a key component to meeting that demand.
Geothermal energy is a renewable asset unique to California and it has a proven track record of providing low-carbon reliable power to Californians for over 50 years. Spanning Lake and Sonoma counties, The Geysers geothermal resource area is the largest in the world. In operation since 1960, it provides around 725 megawatts of steady, affordable, and clean power to local residents and businesses. When compared with fossil fuel powered plants, operation of The Geysers helps avoid 2.4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually and once built, the two new projects would provide a further greenhouse gas reduction of 139,000 to 199,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide. That’s no small sum.
But unfortunately, the state has put geothermal energy at a competitive disadvantage because of the way utilities contract for new supplies of renewable power. Regulators and utilities don’t assign enough value to the fact that geothermal resources provide reliable power around the clock – regardless of weather or time of day. Ironically, this oversight is not only preventing new geothermal facilities from being built but also leading to a steady decline of geothermal in our state’s renewable energy mix. It makes no sense to delay the construction of projects that will provide renewable energy that we know we are going to need in the years ahead.
The economic impact of geothermal energy can’t be ignored. The Geysers is huge — collectively, it supports approximately 375 skilled, local, full-time jobs as well as over 150 contractor positions. Calpine Corporation at The Geysers is the largest taxpayer in Sonoma and Lake counties, contributing millions of dollars each year to our local economies. Calpine’s two new projects could create an additional 19 new, full-time jobs.
By building two new geothermal power plants, The Geysers could provide close to another 100 megawatts of clean energy to Northern California. Construction would also create around 200 local jobs and feed the local economy during the more than two years it would take to build them.
Importantly, all the necessary permits for construction have been approved by state and local agencies and a Project Labor Agreement for both plants has been executed. Now, it’s state legislators and regulators that must act — and soon, before the permits expire.
As conversations evolve at the State Capitol and the California Public Utilities Commission about the policy reforms needed to achieve energy and environmental goals beyond 2020, I urge them to consider how to create a more level playing field for geothermal energy.
We have the ability – right now – to create hundreds of jobs and strengthen the local tax base, all while providing California consumers with clean, reliable and affordable energy.
We urge our state leaders to remove the barriers. It’s time to break ground. Our shovels are ready.
Robbie Hunter is president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, representing 400,000 California construction workers.
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