The Duck Curve#geothermal
Vermont Gas will fund and own Riggs Meadow ground loops; Dandelion drills
Dandelion Energy said on October 1, 2026 that Vermont Gas Systems (VGS) will pay the upfront cost of geothermal ground loops at Riggs Meadow, a 44-unit affordable housing development in Hinesburg, Vermont, with Dandelion designing and drilling; drilling is to begin in early 2027. VGS's June 27, 2025 filing in Vermont PUC Case No. 25A-0742 puts the $400,000 loop scope on VGS, $260,000 of it from the Climate Action and Innovation Budget in its Alternative Regulation Plan; the Department of Public Service did not object on July 28, 2025.
Fervo declares commercial operation at Cape Station's first 33 MW GeoBlock
Fervo Energy said on October 1, 2026 that the first of Cape Station Phase I's three 33 MW GeoBlocks in Beaver County, Utah declared commercial operation on September 30, 2026, one day before its contractual date, and that revenue is now being generated under a power purchase agreement; the company's August 10-Q risk factors had put first power in the fourth quarter of 2026. Fervo expects the remaining two GeoBlocks to reach contractual COD by January 1, 2027.
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XGS names Baker Hughes, NM Tech and Sandia for DOE-selected New Mexico well
XGS Energy said on September 28, 2026 that the Department of Energy selected it for federal funding to support drilling a deep vertical appraisal well in New Mexico with Baker Hughes, New Mexico Tech and Sandia National Laboratories, within the more than $99 million DOE announced for geothermal development. DOE's list for its September 21, 2026 announcement puts the well in Socorro County among 16 exploration drilling selections; neither document gives a per-project amount, and the release says selection for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding.
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DOE selects five EGS field tests and 16 geothermal drilling projects
The US Department of Energy said on September 21, 2026 that it selected 21 geothermal projects for award negotiations: five field-scale enhanced geothermal system tests (Fervo, Zanskar, AlterG, the University of Utah and Quaise) and 16 exploration drilling projects. The press release says more than $99 million; the Geothermal Technologies Office's article says up to $99 million for the first budget period. None of the three DOE pages lists per-project amounts.
Fervo reports first power from Cape Station's first 33 MW GeoBlock in Utah
Fervo Energy said on September 24, 2026 that Cape Station, its enhanced geothermal development in Beaver County, Utah, reached what it calls First Power: the first of Phase I's three 33-megawatt GeoBlocks is synchronized to the grid and exporting electricity, with a contractual commercial operation date it expects to reach by October 1, 2026, the other two by January 1, 2027. Fervo's August 13 10-Q guided first power to the fourth quarter of 2026; its May prospectus defines a GeoBlock as 50 MW and puts its first Cape Station project at approximately $7,000/kW in overnight capital costs.
Mazama Energy raises $135M for superhot geothermal wells at Newberry
Mazama Energy announced $135 million in new capital on September 17, 2026, including an oversubscribed Series B led by Centaurus Capital and Doerr Capital, for its Newberry, Oregon engineered geothermal system, which it calls the hottest ever built at 629°F. The money funds Project Ceres, DOE-supported horizontal wells; the BLM issued a categorical-exclusion decision record on a Project Ceres geothermal operations plan on July 24, 2026, and the company now says Ceres will demonstrate power generation in 2027, where its October 2025 release had placed a 15 MW pilot in 2026.
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BLM sets October 27 auction for 19 California geothermal parcels
The Bureau of Land Management announced on September 11, 2026 a competitive geothermal lease sale on October 27, 2026 for 19 parcels covering 39,723.81 acres of public land in Inyo, Mono, Lake, Sonoma, Modoc, and Imperial counties, California. It is the fourth sale listed on the bureau's California geothermal page since 2014; the August 2025 sale took $2,711,858 on 13 parcels, and a December 2025 instruction memorandum directs BLM state offices to hold geothermal sales annually where nominations are pending.
Hexagon leases geothermal rights on 145,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser forest
Hexagon Energy announced on September 10, 2026 that it has leased the geothermal rights on approximately 145,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser timberland in Washington and Oregon and says the portfolio could bring over 3 GW of power online once operational. The release names no project site, schedule, or technology. Weyerhaeuser optioned nearly 667,000 acres of geothermal rights to AltaRock Energy in 2008, and the largest plant on the Oregon Department of Energy's geothermal list is 22 MW.
Fervo and Google sign 396 MW geothermal PPA for possible Utah data center
Fervo Energy subsidiary Cape Generating Station 6 LLC signed a 15-year, 396 MW power purchase agreement with Google Energy LLC on August 26, 2026, announced September 1, for enhanced geothermal output from Cape Station in Beaver County, Utah, delivered in four 99 MW sub-tranches with target commercial operation dates beginning in the third quarter of 2028. Fervo has agreed to offer Google an expansion of approximately 600 MW, for total contracted capacity of not less than approximately 950 MW with a guaranteed commercial operation date no later than June 2030, and says the project is intended to use delivery pathways under Utah's S.B. 132, subject to regulatory approvals.
Sage Geosystems puts its 3 MW Texas geothermal plant in service
Sage Geosystems placed its SMECI enhanced geothermal facility in Christine, Texas in service on August 19, 2026, after more than 120 days of grid-connected operation. The company says the 3 MW plant held water losses below 10 percent across cycles and matched its reservoir model's predictions, results it is now applying to a planned commercial project at an Ormat site in Nevada.