Geothermal Leasing on Federal Lands

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the agency  responsible for managing geothermal leases on all federal lands. Not all federal lands are open to geothermal leasing. For example, geothermal exploration cannot occur in Wilderness Areas, wilderness study areas (WSA's), or areas of critical environmental concern (ACEC's). Once a geothermal lease has been submitted, the case is handled by the local BLM field office in which the lease occurs. A fairly lengthy review process is required before a geothermal lease is approved.

BLM Geothermal Lease Nomination Form

National BLM  /  Nevada BLM  /  BLM Geothermal

2008 BLM Geothermal Lease Regulations

John Rishel Geothermal Steam Act
Amendments of 2005

BLM Regional Offices (clickable map)

BLM Geothermal Lease Auctions

Federal Incentives for Geothermal

Geothermal lease auctions on Federal lands in California, Idaho, Nevada,
Oregon/Washington, or Utah.

NEW! March 2010 NV Lease Nominations shapefile: The Great Basin Center creates shapefiles by joining nominated geothermal lease parcels with a TRS/Cadastral shapefile of Nevada. This file has 2 limitations: (1) only whole sections are plotted (even though leases may fall within subsections), and (2) if more than one lease covers a section, our shapefile still shows one parcel number. These shapefiles are in Lambert projection. TO BE CERTAIN OF LEASE BOUNDARIES, CONTACT THE BLM.

Modified Accelerated Cost-Recovery System

Business Energy Tax Credit / Production Tax Credit 

Renewable Energy Production Incentive

DOE Loan Guarantee Program

Renewable Energy Credits

Geothermal Lease Interactive Maps

State Incentives for Geothermal

BLM Geothermal Lease Map

2010 Geothermal Exploration Map

Geothermal Favorability Map

California Renewable Portfolio Standard

California Feed-In Tariff

Nevada Renewable Portfolio Standard

Oregon Renewable Portfolio Standard