New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard recently announced a new geothermal leasing rule to align with recent legislative changes and to pave the way for growth of clean, baseload geothermal energy on state trust lands.Scott Brocato recently spoke with Commissioner Garcia Richard about the new leasing rule and how it will impact the state.
Scott Brocato:
Commissioner Garcia Richard, first talk about the new leasing rule to unleash geothermal energy that's going to go in effect Friday. Talk about that and why you feel it's needed.
Stephanie Garcia Richard:
So, you know, New Mexico is really poised to be a leader in geothermal energy, and I can talk about that in just a moment. But the geothermal potential in New Mexico, I would even use the word, is game-changing for our energy needs. I had a colleague of mine who attended a conference a couple years ago on geothermal in New Mexico, and apparently there is enough resource in the state to power the needs of the entire state if we were to choose to go that route. But as we're looking to alternative forms of energy that are more sustainable, geothermal really is that next energy source that can give us...really meet our energy needs in the state.
And what the land office did was update our rules to match the changes that the state legislature made in the geothermal statute so that leasing state land for geothermal development is now much easier, much more streamlined, much more attractive to companies who might want to come in and use state land to develop geothermal resources.
Scott Brocato:
Well, to touch upon what you just said, and this was also in your press release, you stated that New Mexico has all the right conditions, ideal geology, to become a leader in geothermal production. What are some of those conditions?
Stephanie Garcia Richard:
So it's basically a trifecta of three different things. So the first, as you mentioned, Scott, is the resource. We have vast geothermal resources deep in the ground because of the historic volcanic activity that has occurred in New Mexico over the millennia.
The second thing is that we have already the expertise and workforce that has the skills to be able to bring that energy to the surface. Essentially, it is very similar and it's overlapping with the skills that you see in the oil fields. So we already have that skilled workforce.
The third sort of condition to make this successful in New Mexico is you have political leadership that is really aligned in wanting to bring forth geothermal energy. So you have the legislature, obviously, who passed updated rules on geothermal use. You have the governor, Governor Lujan Grisham, has directed her Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department to really go out and find that resource. They have been appropriated millions of dollars over at the Energy Department to really start to research where some of this resource in the state, and we know that it exists here. So it's kind of that trifecta of those three things that really is going to make this successful.
Scott Brocato:
Where are some of those pockets of geothermal energy?
Stephanie Garcia Richard:
So for folks who are familiar with the Jemez Mountains, the Jemez area, you know that we have hot springs there. Well, that's kind of the same resource we're talking about. So that formation is called the Jemez Liniment. And then the Rio Grande Rift along the Rio Grande River has some volcanic activity as well that has some deep pockets of geothermal resource. Those are just two named resources in the state. There is some down in the southwest as well, some near Ruidoso, and, you know, we just have vast geothermal resources here because of that volcanic activity.
Scott Brocato:
The State Land Office held a public meeting last September to gather feedback and public comments on the proposed rule. What were some of the comments and concerns that the public expressed then, and how will they be addressed with this new rule and other changes?
Stephanie Garcia Richard:
Yeah, so I mean there was a lot of kind of technical issues that we needed to work through. The definition of the word “renewable” means that you are not depleting a resource. With geothermal, it's interesting because just depending on how it's developed, essentially you can have a closed-loop system and I think some of the newer technology is moving towards that closed-loop system.
And so the folks, there's actually a geothermal working group here in the state and that is populated by experts, producers of geothermal, advocates for geothermal, and they really helped us design our rule so that we could meet the needs of New Mexico and developing the resource. So it was a lot of technical expertise that were loaned to us from that working group that helped with the crafting of our rule.
Scott Brocato:
Is there anything else you'd like to add or discuss in closing?
Stephanie Garcia Richard:
No, I just, this is an exciting time for New Mexico. Like I said, game-changing, and I'm appreciating your interest in it. Thank you so much.
