New plan would make Mount Hood site of massive geothermal plant

Hood River County is investigating an out-of-state proposal to build a 50 MW facility utilizing new technology. Questions abound

Hot spot: Mount Hood from Elk Cove on Vista Ridge Trail. The north flank of Oregon’s tallest peak is the site of a proposed geothermal operation. Photo: Chuck Thompson

By Andrew Engelson, October 20, 2022. At a July meeting of the Hood River County Board of Commissioners, a startup company gave a PowerPoint presentation offering a bold proposal: tapping into underground volcanic heat sources just north of Mount Hood to generate electricity and help Oregon meet its 2040 climate goals.

At the July 18 meeting, Andrew Fleming, CEO of GeoX, a private company founded in 2019, gave a presentation outlining a plan that could eventually generate between 25 and 150 MW of electricity from geothermal energy.

Currently, Oregon’s largest geothermal plant is the Neal Springs plant in Malheur County, which generates 22 MW and powers the equivalent of 17,000 homes in Oregon and Idaho.

Doug Thiesies, forestry manager for Hood River County, said that GeoX reached out to the county, and commissioners were intrigued with the prospect of a new green energy source—as well as the possibility of significant royalty income.

“Green, renewable energy has been an underlying goal for the commissioners,” Thiesies told Columbia Insight. “So when these folks approached me about it, I said ‘sure, let’s talk.’”

Thieses says the proposal is in the preliminary stages and before GeoX will be allowed to test drill on county land, issues such as permits, potential environmental impacts, public outreach and legal concerns will all have to be addressed.

“There are a number of agencies, including DEQ (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality) that will need to have input about what can be done,” Thiesies said.

Asked about the proposal presented by GeoX, Hood River Commission Chair Mike Oates affirmed the plan is in its very early stages, and said the board couldn’t comment until it receives more detailed information from the company.

Not in a talking mood

The company behind the plan seems much more reluctant to engage in a conversation.

Despite repeated requests from Columbia Insight, GeoX declined to be interviewed or comment on the proposal. When asked when the company might speak to Columbia Insight, CEO Andrew Fleming said by phone, “How about never?”

After multiple inquiries, a spokesperson for GeoX wrote in an email, “We’re looking at several locations, not just Hood River County. Not much to report right now, but if anything should move forward we’ll certainly reach out to discuss.”

What’s in the box? Outlined section shows area of interest for a proposed geothermal power facility on the north side of Mount Hood. Image: Hood River County Board of Commissioners/GeoX

According to SEC documents, GeoX is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado. The company’s website lists a Houston address as its headquarters.

According to the PowerPoint presentation given to the Hood River County commissioners (found on page 58 of 541 pages of minutes from the July meeting), founder and CEO Andrew Fleming has 33 years experience leading deep-water oil and gas drilling operations for Ophir, Conoco Philips, Essar and other companies.

Houston-based drilling company Nabors Industries invested $11 million in GeoX in 2021, according to a press release from GeoX. Beyond this, publicly available details about the company’s ownership or financial backers are scarce.

The PowerPoint presentation from the Hood River County meeting claims GeoX has developed a patent-pending technology that can utilize the heat of “supercritical” dry rocks at temperatures around 850 degrees F (450 degrees C), which GeoX plans to tap into by drilling up to 33,000 feet (10 km) underground.

The company says its technology is 10 times more efficient than existing geothermal power generation strategies.

Despite requests from Columbia Insight, GeoX provided no evidence to back up these claims.

Water rights, other issues

The Oregon Department of Energy is actively investigating the development of geothermal energy to help decarbonize the state’s sources of electricity.

On its geothermal website, DOE estimates the state currently generates a total of 33 MW of geothermal power, less than 1% of the state’s total. It hopes to expand that capacity to 100 MW in the future.

GeoX’s PowerPoint suggests that a 50 MW plant would have a footprint of about six acres, but connections to power transmission lines and support facilities would no doubt increase that size.

Thiesies said GeoX and the county are investigating a site above the West Fork Hood River, in a parcel of working timberland surrounded by private land.

None of the county’s popular mountain biking trails or outdoor recreation areas would be affected, he said.

Superpower: GeoX says its plans are based on patent-pending technology. Image: Hood River County Board of Commissioners/GeoX

Thieses noted that one unanswered question is how much water GeoX will need access to.

“What are the water needs for this? My understanding is it’s a closed system, basically, so the amount of water use might be minimal—but it sounds like there will be some water use. So they’ll have to find water rights,” he said.

Thiesies said the county will be asking the company many question over the next few months.

“What are the real impacts? What don’t you see right away? At the end of the day, there are a lot of regulatory processes that this company is going to have to go through,” he said.

How much?

The PowerPoint seems to make striking claims about the eventual power output of GeoX’s plants in the United States, noting that it hopes to create three 1,000 MW plants in locations across the country.

Currently, the world’s largest geothermal plant is the Geysers Geothermal Complex north of San Francisco, which has 900 MW of capacity.

GeoX did not respond to questions about these or any other plans to create what would presumably be the world’s largest geothermal plant—or where it might be located.

When asked about GeoX’s proposal, Jackie Kramer, a spokesperson for Thrive, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting farmland and forests in the Hood River Valley, wrote in an email: “Thrive supports appropriate green energy production as a way to alleviate the climate crisis. The geothermal project in Hood River County that GeoX has proposed is worth consideration but is still at a very conceptual stage. We can’t take a position on it until we learn much more.”

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”If it can bring in new revenue that helps us diversify, especially if fires were to take what is basically our checkbook away.”[/perfectpullquote]

Thieses said the county would expect GeoX to fund the construction and operation of a power plant.

“Basically they would build a facility to extract and develop this resource,” he said.

Though he has no firm estimate of what GeoX would pay to the county in royalties, Thiesies said it “certainly could be hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Possibly much higher than that. But it’s so early now, and we don’t know how to scale it.”

Royalties could provide a substantial boost to Hood River County’s timber harvesting program, which averages $4.2 million in revenue each year.

Thiesies said Oregon law requires the county’s lease income be reinvested in land purchases.

If geothermal royalties have to be used to purchase more land, that’s fine with the county, Thiesies said, noting that commissioners have expressed interest in expanding its current holdings of 34,500 acres of forest.

“This geothermal plant, if it can bring in new revenue and royalties, that helps us to diversify and not be so reliant on forests for revenue,” Thiesies said. “Especially if fires were to take what is basically our checkbook away.”

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The Fred W. Fields Fund of Oregon Community Foundation supported this story.

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