A massive government sale on Tuesday of geothermal energy leases in Nevada generated bids on just 26% of the land parcels offered, with most selling at the minimum price of $2 an acre.
The sale was by far the federal government’s largest offering of geothermal energy leases by acreage in recent years, with 142 parcels on 384,369.6 acres available for auction.
According to energy marketplace EnergyNet, which conducted the online sale, 37 parcels representing 102,402.85 acres received bids for a total of $426,900.
Of the parcels that received bids, all but nine sold for the minimum of $2 an acre. The highest price per acre was $20 for a 4,800-acre parcel in Churchill County.
Winning bidders were not disclosed on EnergyNet. A BLM spokesman in Nevada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sale’s results.