Colorado passes bill on permitting and regulatory oversight for geothermal

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed into law a bill that streamlines the permitting procedures and overhauls regulatory oversight for geothermal activities.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed into law House Bill 25-1165, “An Act Concerning the Management of Underground Energy Sources.” While the bill deals mostly with measures related to geologic carbon storage, it also contains provisions that streamline the permitting procedures for and more clearly defines the regulatory oversight of geothermal projects.

The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Rep. Amy Paschal (D-Colorado Springs) and Rep. Matt Soper (R-Delta), seeks to make it easier, safer, and more affordable to deploy geothermal energy. The key provisions related to geothermal include:

Specific geothermal activities are exempted from the well permit requirements of the State Engineer, given that the activity withdraws non-tributary groundwater for heat extraction purposes only and is considered a deep geothermal operation

• Property rights to a hot dry rock or geothermal resource with non-tributary groundwater in an incident of the ownership of the overlying surface

• Creates the State Board of Examiners of Water Well and Ground Heat Exchanger Contractors (“State Board of Examiners”)under the Division of Water Resources within the Department of Natural Resources

• The authority to regulate shallow geothermal operations will now be shared by the State Engineer and the Board of Examiners of Water Well and Ground Heat Exchanger Contractors

• Regulates ground heat exchanger contractors in the same manner that currently exists for water well construction and pump installation contractors