Colorado’s geothermal potential will soon be tested in a small town

PIERCE, Colo. — Across Colorado, sprawling solar energy farms and towering wind power turbines may soon make way for a newer, more experimental form of green energy: geothermal power.

Geothermal energy is generated by tapping into hot water trapped in rock deep below the Earth’s surface.

Many different technologies and approaches are being tested to see what will be most effective in Colorado. The state’s Energy Office plans to give out $7.7 million in grants to companies and institutions hoping to study and test geothermal technologies.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis calls it “the heat beneath our feet,” and sees geothermal as so promising that he named it an initiative for the Western Governors’ Association last year. Colorado is one of five Western states holding 95% of the United States’ geothermal potential.

When announcing the new grants, Polis said, “Nation-leading efforts to develop Colorado’s geothermal energy resources is essential to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while creating stable, good-paying jobs in just transition communities and ensuring affordable and reliable access to clean energy for all Coloradans.”

But there’s a lot to figure out.

Denver7 talked with two companies — Gradient Geothermal and Geothermal Technologies — which will both receive state grants to test different methods in the same small town in northeastern Colorado.

The Town of Pierce is just one square mile wide. Roughly 1,000 people live there, and Pierce Mayor Cathy Ortiz knows them all. That’s because when she isn’t working with the local government at Pierce’s Town Hall, she’s chatting with locals at the market across the street, where she’s a manager.

“It’s a very small community, and a lot of them feel like family,” Ortiz said.

She said the market is where she stays up-to-date on the town’s desires.

“This is where I talk to everybody. I’m here every day, and I love it,” she said.

But the news of geothermal technology coming to town still hasn’t gotten around.

“Probably nobody knows about it,” she said. Even as mayor, Ortiz was only recently approached by a company representative informing her of their plans.

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