State Sen. Nick Pisciottano, D-Monroeville, is circulating a co-sponsorship memorandum for legislation he plans to introduce in the Senate to move forward with geothermal injection wells. A companion bill is being carried in the state House of Representatives by Democrat Arvind Venkat, Republican Craig Williams and Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia.

“Pennsylvania is a nationwide leader in electricity production and the second largest natural gas producer in the U.S., mostly due to innovation and investment in unconventional gas exploration,” the lawmakers said in their co-sponsorship memorandum. “Given Pennsylvania’s long history with the oil and gas industry and skilled workforce, we are uniquely positioned to become a leader in next-generation geothermal energy, including Enhanced Geothermal Systems. This new-emerging technology uses similar drilling techniques as oil and gas operations but instead harnesses heat deep beneath the Earth’s surface.”

A report released in February by Project Innerspace, in conjunction with Penn State University, found that if Pennsylvania takes steps to fully access the geothermal heat that exists underground, the state could leverage the expertise of its oil and gas workers to generate enough energy to meet all of the commonwealth’s electricity, heating and low- to medium-temperature industrial process needs in as few as 10 years. “The Future of Geothermal in Pennsylvania” report, backed by Project InnerSpace in collaboration with Pennsylvania State University and working with 10 contributors from four Pennsylvania institutions, evaluated the potential scale of geothermal energy. Recent technological developments by the oil and gas industry now allow us to efficiently and cost-effectively tap into the Earth’s heat, making geothermal energy available almost anywhere, including Pennsylvania. These advances are allowing oil and gas workers to produce geothermal energy, driving interest in geothermal energy from the Trump administration and Democrats.

“Geothermal energy is a potentially limitless, always-on power source that could provide clean, locally-sourced electricity to millions of Pennsylvania residents and businesses,” Fiedler said when the Project Innerscape study was released in February. “A thriving, growing, job-creating economy isn’t built on yesterday’s technologies. bold investments. Project InnerSpace’s report shows that Pennsylvania can lead the way in this It’s built on innovation – on next energy revolution.”

State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler is pictured during a news conference in June to rally support for a package of legislation that would create green energy jobs in Pennsylvania.

Pisciottano, Fiedler, Williams and Venkat want to authorize the state DEP to regulate geothermal injection wells and create a permitting process, define geothermal resources to encompass all geothermal technologies, establish subsurface ownership rights for geothermal resources and permit abandoned oil and gas wells to be repurposed into geothermal wells.

“If we are to see investment in Pennsylvania, we will need to establish regulatory clarity, as states like Texas, West Virginia, and Washington have done,” the lawmakers said in their memorandum. “This legislation will establish a regulatory framework for next-generation geothermal energy development in Pennsylvania. … Geothermal energy is a potentially limitless, always-on power source that could provide clean, locally sourced heat and electricity to millions of Pennsylvania residents and businesses.”