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| "Geothermal Energy the savior of Salton Sea", by Alexander Schriener Jr. Units 1 and 2 at Salton Sea geothermal field, Imperial Valley CA. GRC PHOTO CONTEST |
As state lawmakers debate far-reaching bills that could reshape the energy landscape in California and across the West, some groups are urging the Legislature to require new geothermal power plants at the Salton Sea before a key deadline Monday night — but those groups can't agree on what the geothermal mandate should look like.
In a letter to Assemblymember Chris Holden last week, the Imperial Irrigation District, Imperial County and other groups and companies said they would oppose a bill to speed up the construction of solar and wind farms in California unless Holden adds language requiring a quarter of that additional development to come from "baseload" renewable resources that generate electricity around the clock, including Salton Sea geothermal.
A counter-proposal from a coalition of environmental groups and renewable energy companies, who support Holden's bill, calls for lawmakers to do something more limited but more specific: require 500 megawatts of new geothermal be built at the Salton Sea by 2030. That would more than double the existing Salton Sea geothermal capacity.
