| Abstract |
Federal and state governments have prioritized geothermal and other renewable energy project developments to meet renewable portfolio standard goals, reduce greenhouse gases and/or dependence on fossil fuels and foreign energy sources, and create jobs. They are also responding to concerns regarding financing and electricity transmission challenges, costly regulatory bottlenecks, delays, and five + year permitting schedules. This paper summarizes the geothermal power plant regulatory framework and status of efforts to streamline the related permitting processes, using federal/California efforts as case studies. |