Utah Geothermal Areas (green) with Transmission Lines (purple)
Geothermal energy was the first renewable resource in Beaver County to be harnessed for beneficial use. Beaver County remains the only region in the state with operating geothermal plants delivering electricity to the grid. Blundell Geothermal, owned by Pacificorp was completed in June of 1984 with a direct flash 24 megawatt system. The plant was the first plant outside California to produce commercial power from a geothermal source. This earned it the "Innovation Award" from the United States Department of Energy in 1984.
In 2007 Pacificorp add 12 megawatts of capacity through the construction of a binary system designed to extract heat from the direct flash plant.
Shortly following the construction of Blundell, Mother Earth Industries in cooperation with Provo City installed a binary geothermal system to power Provo City. The plant operated until the early 2000s when it was purchase by a private entity and decommissioned in preparation for complete retooling. The property is now owned by ENEL North America and is undergoing development in anticipation of construction of a new plant in 2010 or 2011.
The third geothermal plant to be constructed in Beaver County was completed in October of 2008 by Raser Technologies at the Thermo field 16 miles west of Minersville. The electricity in this plant is sold to the City of Anaheim California. Raser employed a new modular technology that incorporates a series of 250kw generators in a binary system. This plant, the first of its kind was built in less than 12 months due in part to Beaver County's zoning ordinance that is friendly to renewable energy developments.
Raser believes potential exists to expand the field significantly beyond the initial 10 megawatts.