Hexagon leases geothermal rights on 145,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser forest

Hexagon Energy has leased the geothermal rights on approximately 145,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser timberland in Washington and Oregon, the Charlottesville, Virginia developer announced on September 10, 2026. The release, datelined Seattle and Charlottesville, describes the closing of a strategic agreement under which Hexagon will develop geothermal projects on Weyerhaeuser's holdings in the two states, and says that once operational the portfolio "could bring over 3 GW of carbon-free power online." It names no project site, drilling schedule, technology, or dollar value for the deal.

The counterparty is, in the release's description, one of the world's largest private owners of timberlands: Weyerhaeuser says it owns or controls more than 10 million acres of US timberland and operates as a real estate investment trust. Kendall Fountain, its vice president of energy and natural resources, is quoted calling geothermal "an emerging opportunity to provide clean and reliable, around-the-clock power" and saying the agreement supports the growth of the company's Climate Solutions business. That business, per the company's Climate Solutions pages, covers wind and solar leasing, bioenergy, forest carbon, carbon capture and sequestration, conservation, and mitigation banking. Matthew Hantzmon, Hexagon's chief executive, is quoted saying Weyerhaeuser "entrusted us to unlock this valuable asset for them."

Hexagon describes itself in the release as a developer of utility-scale wind, solar, standalone storage, and geothermal projects that has "developed and financed over 3 GW of power" representing "over $4.5 billion in investment capital," with more than 10 GW under active development. Its website dates the 3 GW developed and financed to "since 2015," says "another 10 GW is under active development," puts the capital at "over $1 billion," and says the company "is exploring new applications for geothermal power."

What came before, and what Oregon lists today

The Pacific Northwest's timberlands have been offered for geothermal development at least once before, on a larger scale. On September 3, 2008, Renewable Energy World reported that AltaRock Energy had finalized agreements with Weyerhaeuser and the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation covering nearly 667,000 acres of geothermal rights, including about 378,500 acres in south-central and western Oregon and 263,000 acres in western Washington, as an exclusive option to assess enhanced geothermal potential that AltaRock could convert to development leases on up to 40 percent of the acreage within two years. That deal followed what the same report described as Google.org's plan to invest $6.25 million in AltaRock. AltaRock's enhanced geothermal demonstration that followed was at Newberry, on federal land in the Deschutes National Forest rather than on timber company acreage.

The 2026 agreement covers less than a quarter of the Oregon and Washington acreage in the 2008 option, and the release does not say whether any of the parcels overlap. It also arrives with different neighbors. Enhanced geothermal has since moved from demonstrations to contracted power: Fervo Energy's 396 MW Google contract at Cape Station in Utah appears, per Fervo's own quarterly report, to fulfill in part a non-binding framework agreement to propose up to 3 GW of projects to Google over its term (Fervo and Google sign 396 MW geothermal PPA for possible Utah data center), and Sage Geosystems put a 3 MW enhanced geothermal plant in service in Texas in August 2026 (Sage Geosystems puts its 3 MW Texas geothermal plant in service). Hexagon's figure is "over 3 GW" of potential once operational, a floor stated for leased acreage with no wells announced; Fervo's 3 GW is the cap on projects it may propose to one buyer.

The Oregon Department of Energy lists a 22 MW plant at Neal Hot Springs near Vale, brought online by U.S. Geothermal in 2012, a 3.1 MW plant at Paisley that began operating in 2015, and two units at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, the first at 280 kilowatts in 2010 and a second at 1.75 MW, and names Crump Geyser and Glass Butte in Lake County as sites being explored. Federal leasing in the region is active: the Bureau of Land Management says both states have current geothermal leases, Oregon has one designated unit, the Davenport Newberry Unit on the western flank of Newberry Caldera, and the agency's results summary for its August 11, 2026 competitive sale of two Mount Hood National Forest parcels shows 9,622.42 acres offered, both parcels receiving bids, four of nine registered bidders bidding, 21 bids in total, and $1,136,058 in high bids. Against the state list, 3 GW would be more than 100 times the largest plant it names.

Outlook

The release reads as site control, one of the development steps Hexagon's own boilerplate lists, rather than a project. The 2008 AltaRock option on four times the acreage is the closest precedent, and the demonstration that followed it was on federal land, not on Weyerhaeuser's; whether this one differs will show up first in state and federal permit filings and in any offtake announcement, since the enhanced geothermal contracts The Duck Curve has covered were anchored by a named buyer before construction. The August 2026 Mount Hood sale, two parcels drawing 21 bids from four bidders, suggests federal parcels in the region have buyers at the same time private timberland is entering the market.