Fervo Announces 20 MW Power Purchase Agreement to Provide 24/7 Carbon-Free Geothermal Electricity to Southern California
HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Fervo Energy announced the execution of a 20 MW power purchase agreement to provide 24/7 carbon-free geothermal power to a group of nine California-based community choice aggregators (CCAs). The 15-year contract will provide clean energy to households across Southern California.
The offtakers include Desert Community Energy (DCE), Clean Energy Alliance (CEA), and California Choice Energy Authority (CalChoice) on behalf of the Town of Apple Valley, the City of Lancaster, the City of Pomona, the City of Pico Rivera, the City of Rancho Mirage, the City of Santa Barbara, and the City of San Jacinto.
As the leading developer of next-generation geothermal energy, Fervo Energy will help all nine entities meet firm, clean power requirements under the 2021 State of California mandate requiring load serving entities to procure 1,000 MW of non-weather-dependent, zero-emissions energy. The project will dispatch 20 MW of 24/7 carbon-free geothermal power from Fervo’s Beaver County, Utah position with expected operation in Q2 of 2026.
“This is a great example of local government leading the way in providing residents and businesses with 100% green, carbon-free energy,” said DCE Chair Geoff Kors. “Of our 33,000 customers in Palm Springs, 24,000 of them are on DCE’s Carbon Free plan, and altogether they will save nearly $2 million from this partnership with Fervo Energy.”
Fervo Energy applies proven technologies including horizontal drilling and distributed fiber optic sensing to geothermal power development to deliver more reliable and cost-effective projects. This approach makes geothermal power accessible in far more places than before and dramatically increases its potential as a widespread energy source.
“We are seeing unprecedented demand for 24/7 carbon-free energy. This partnership pushes Southern California one step closer to having a fully decarbonized, reliable grid and achieving their clean energy goals,” said Dawn Owens, Head of Development at Fervo Energy.
“CalChoice is excited to partner with Fervo Energy,” said CalChoice Executive Director Jason Caudle. “Fervo Energy is making meaningful progress toward expanding geothermal accessibility, furthering climate action goals, all while providing carbon-free geothermal power to households throughout Southern California.”
About Fervo Energy
Fervo Energy provides 24/7 carbon-free energy through development of next-generation geothermal power. Fervo’s mission is to leverage innovation in geoscience to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Geothermal has a major role to play in the future electric grid and Fervo’s key innovations bring a full suite of modern technology to make geothermal cost competitive. Fervo’s innovations include technologies such as advanced computational models, horizontal drilling, and distributed fiber optic sensing that have been developed with partners including Schlumberger, ARPA-E, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Fervo has an industry leading development pipeline with projects with multiple partners including Google and East Bay Community Energy. Fervo’s investors and financiers include leading venture capital firms Capricorn and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, industry leaders Helmerich and Payne and BHP, and research support through Activate, ARPA-E, and the Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office. For more information, please visit www.fervoenergy.com.
About DCE
Desert Community Energy (DCE) is a Joint Powers Authority formed by the Cities of Palm Springs and Palm Desert to offer a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program that sources its own electricity, gives customers the choice to buy cleaner electricity at competitive rates, and reduces greenhouse gases through development of a robust renewable energy infrastructure. DCE launched and began serving customers in Palm Springs in April 2020. Services for the City of Palm Desert are currently under consideration. For more information about DCE, visit DesertCommunityEnergy.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About CEA
Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) is a Joint Powers Authority formed to offer Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) services to its member cities which includes Carlsbad, Del Mar, Escondido, Oceanside, San Marco, Solana Beach and Vista. CEA began serving customers in Carlsbad, Del Mar and Solana Beach in May 2021 and will begin serving customers in Escondido and San Marcos in April 2023 and Oceanside and Vista in April 2024. For more information about CEA, visit TheCleanEnergyAlliance.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About CalChoice
CalChoice is a California Joint Powers Authority (“JPA”) that provides Community Choice Aggregation (“CCA”) support services, which include energy portfolio management, power procurement and trading, settlements and invoice validations, regulatory compliance, regulatory advocacy, financial and accounting, and rate-setting support functions. Furthermore, CalChoice provides a turn-key CCA offering to other city-specific CCA programs. Learn More at californiachoiceenergyauthority.com
Contacts
Fervo Energy
Sarah Jewett, Director of Strategy
sarah@fervoenergy.com
DCE
Josh Zipperman
Josh@BurkeRix.com
CEA
Barbara Boswell, CEO
ceo@thecleanenergyalliance.org
CalChoice
Kathy Wells, Energy Programs Manager
Kathy@CalChoice.org