USA, California:

Andy Horne Boosts Geothermal in the Imperial Valley (Imperial Valley Press)

Interview with Andy Horne - Deputy County Executive Officer for Natural Resources Development, Imperial County

Horne leans back in his chair. “Here’s an interesting bit of information,” he smiles. “It takes 1,000 megawatts of electricity to run the Imperial Irrigation District (IID)’s system here throughout the Valley at summer peak hours. The Valley is now producing that much just in solar. The Ocotillo wind farm is producing 265 megawatts and geothermal energy is producing 700 megawatts. And get this; Imperial County is the largest producer of geothermal electricity in the nation and truth be known, we have the ability to triple that.”

One reason is that the IID owns a significant amount of land near the Salton Sea that is centered smack dab on the San Andreas Fault where underground pressure is boiling. Word is, Imperial County is pushing state Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown to require electric utility companies such as Southern California Edison to buy Imperial County alternative energy from geothermal power plants here in the Valley. Some predict this deal could inject up to $3 billion into Imperial County’s economy over the next 30 years.

“This push on renewable energy, especially geothermal, has a major residual benefit for Imperial County citizens.” Horne claims. “Here’s the bottom line. Both solar and wind production hires a great deal of people during the construction phase, which is great. But following that, it takes by far less people to maintain those systems. Not true with geothermal. Not only does it take a large employee base to construct a geothermal plant but following construction a continuation of many, many individuals are needed to operate it. We’re talking high-paying skilled jobs for Valley residents to take advantage of.”

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