[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4116 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4116

     To advance next-generation geothermal electricity generation 
     demonstration projects in new regions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 2026

Mr. Hickenlooper (for himself, Mr. Daines, Mr. Padilla, and Mr. Curtis) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To advance next-generation geothermal electricity generation 
     demonstration projects in new regions, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Geothermal Power Opportunity With 
Expanded Regions Act'' or the ``Geo POWER Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to advance next-generation geothermal 
demonstration projects--
            (1) to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation 
        geothermal technologies in diverse geologies and regions across 
        the United States;
            (2) to overcome high upfront capital costs for geothermal 
        exploration and drilling;
            (3) to generate public data to de-risk future geothermal 
        projects in new geologies and regions; and
            (4) to catalyze geothermal demonstration projects and 
        innovation through milestone-based financing to de-risk future 
        geothermal projects.

SEC. 3. INNOVATIVE FINANCING FOR GEOTHERMAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

    Section 615 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 
U.S.C. 17194) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ``the milestone-based 
        geothermal demonstration program for projects in low 
        permeability and impermeable reservoirs described in subsection 
        (e) and'' after ``including'';
            (2) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (3); and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Milestone-Based Geothermal Demonstration Program.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Innovative financing.--The term `innovative 
                financing' means financial instruments used to support 
                geothermal energy project development, including 
                transactions that the Secretary may enter into under 
                section 646 of the Department of Energy Organization 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 7256).
                    ``(B) Program.--The term `Program' means the 
                Milestone-Based Geothermal Demonstration Program 
                established under paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall 
        establish a program, to be known as the `Milestone-Based 
        Geothermal Demonstration Program', to award innovative 
        financing to geothermal projects in low-permeability and 
        impermeable reservoirs through a competitive process based on 
        the achievement of technical and financial milestones, 
        prioritizing--
                    ``(A) geothermal projects in regions and geologies 
                that have limited or no geothermal electricity 
                generation as of the date of enactment of this 
                paragraph, including on or near Indian land (as defined 
                in section 2601 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (25 
                U.S.C. 3501));
                    ``(B) geothermal projects that support the 
                collection and dissemination of data to characterize 
                new geothermal resources and technologies to catalyze 
                future private investment;
                    ``(C) new geothermal electricity production 
                facilities with aggregate electricity generation 
                capacity potential of not less than 30 megawatts or 
                geothermal projects that advance innovative drilling or 
                other innovations that enable the viability of 
                commercial-scale geothermal electricity generation of 
                not less than 30 megawatts; and
                    ``(D) projects with the potential for attracting 
                significant private sector investment.
            ``(3) Requirements.--
                    ``(A) Proposals.--In carrying out the Program, the 
                Secretary shall request proposals for projects from 
                project sponsors that meet the criteria described in 
                paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Differentiation.--The Secretary shall award 
                innovative financing under paragraph (2)--
                            ``(i) to not less than 3 different 
                        proposals in at least 3 different States; and
                            ``(ii) to not less than 3 different project 
                        sponsors.
                    ``(C) Staffing.--The Secretary shall maintain 
                staffing levels sufficient to administer innovative 
                financing under paragraph (2).
            ``(4) Authority.--The Secretary shall carry out a project 
        under this subsection as a milestone-based demonstration 
        project under section 9005 of the Energy Act of 2020 (42 U.S.C. 
        7256c).
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out 
subsections (d) and (e).''.
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