Is the U.S. Headed for a Geothermal Energy Comeback?

Geothermal energy is far behind wind and solar for renewable power generation in the United States. Wind accounted for just over 10 percent of the nation’s electricity mix in 2023, and solar turned in 3.9 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In contrast, geothermal energy only reached the 0.4 percent mark of total U.S. power.

But geothermal energy has a crucial advantage over wind and solar. Since it's sourced from heat inside the Earth, geothermal energy is available without interruption on a 24/7 basis, regardless of the weather and seasonal changes. And, just as the wind and solar industries benefited from innovation and cost-cutting since the early 2000s, geothermal energy is in the midst of a technology transformation.

New geothermal developments cover three areas: centralized power plants for the electricity grid, heating plants for whole communities, and individual geothermal heat pumps for homes and buildings.

All of these systems are based on drilling into the ground to capture heat generated by the Earth's core. Geothermal power plants convert that heat into electricity, while heating plants and heat pumps use it to heat and cool homes, buildings, and even whole neighborhoods. Tapping new sites with advanced well-drilling systems could increase the use of geothermal energy twentyfold by 2050, according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Energy. Beyond generating power, heat pumps and heating plants could heat and cool up to 80 million homes by midcentury, the agency estimates. 

A renewable energy twofer for U.S. businesses

Geothermal heat pumps present a particularly ripe opportunity for businesses. More familiarly known as ground-sourced heat pumps, these individual systems draw ambient energy from relatively shallow boreholes in the Earth for heating and cooling. In addition to decarbonizing their own buildings, property owners can also take credit for fostering a beneficial ripple effect on the electricity grid.

Last year, the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that the mass deployment of geothermal heat pumps in both commercial and residential properties would significantly reduce demand on the nation’s electricity grid, consequently reducing emissions from conventional power plants.

In concert with weatherization and other building efficiency upgrades, geothermal heat pumps could reduce the nation’s power generation needs by up to 11 percent by 2050, according to the lab.

In case studies presented last year, the Energy Department’s Geothermal Technologies Office showcased how large-scale heat pump installations could work in various parts of the country. The Taiwanese firm Delta Electronics, for example, installed a unique horizontally-placed heat pump system at its U.S. headquarters in Fremont, California, in 2015. The system provides 80 percent of heating and cooling needs at the campus, where it continues to serve as a test bed for Delta’s own geothermal products. In Verona, Wisconsin, the medical records software firm Epic System's sprawling geothermal heat pump system including 6,100 boreholes accounts for almost all of the heating and cooling needs of the site’s 40 buildings.

Geothermal energy for long-term resilience

Mastercard gave the heat pump field a fresh burst of publicity last week when the company shared plans to convert its global headquarters in Purchase, New York, to geothermal energy. The renewable energy upgrade, which also includes a new solar array at the campus, reflects the firm’s strategic approach to the energy transition. Purchase is within the service territory of the leading New York state utility Con Ed, which is actively incentivizing the adoption of geothermal heat pumps.

“When it came time to replace our natural gas heating and cooling system in Purchase, where natural gas is responsible for more than half of our direct combustion of fossil fuels, we saw it as an opportunity to drastically reduce emissions,” Ellen Jackowski, Mastercard's chief sustainability officer, wrote in an article coauthored by the company's EVP for financial operations, Tara Maguire. 

The 160 boreholes needed for the new geothermal system will be hidden under the broad lawn that fronts the campus. “In the summer, the closed-loop ground source heat pump will siphon heat from the building, storing it in the ground until the winter, when it can be pumped back into the building,” Jackowski and Maguire explained. The electricity needed to run the system will also come from renewable resources.

“Our investments in geothermal and solar technologies represent the first phase of our broader commitment to building truly resilient energy systems that can withstand the challenges we all face,” they wrote.

Next steps for geothermal energy

President Donald Trump’s “energy emergency” has put the U.S. geothermal industry in an odd position. While wind and solar are now locked out of federal support, geothermal is among the resources granted favorable treatment alongside fossil energy.

An apparently successful lobbying effort on the part of oil and gas services firms can shed some light on the decision to include geothermal among the favored resources. Diversified oilfield services firms have a ripe opportunity to grow their business in the geothermal industry, where their drilling systems and skill sets apply.

In fact, Trump’s pick for Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, is the former CEO of the leading oil and gas services firm Liberty Energy. During his tenure there, Liberty invested $10 million in Fervo Energy, an up-and-coming startup in the geothermal power generation field. Another leading fossil energy stakeholder, Devon Energy, also invested in Fervo earlier this year.

In addition, some federal policy watchers have indicated that Trump’s so-called energy emergency reflects a simplistic mindset that rejects the new — namely, wind and solar — in favor of “traditional” resources including hydropower and biomass as well as geothermal.

Either way, the catastrophic impacts of climate change are already in evidence. Businesses are preparing for the long-term consequences of a warming world, and they are seeking new energy resources that provide for adaptability and resilience beyond the four-year cycles that characterize federal policymaking. A temporary throttling of wind and solar energy will slow, not stop, the inevitable transition to a more sustainable economy.