WASHINGTON, Jul 27, 2006 -- U.S. Newswire

 

The first geothermal power plant in the Pacific Northwest will hold its groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, July 29. The plant is being developed by U.S. Geothermal Inc. (TSX-V: GTH), a Boise-based alternative energy company. The groundbreaking celebration will take place at the project site in Raft River, Idaho.

"This completely clean, green, renewable energy source will soon be put to work for our Idaho customers," said Daniel Kunz, CEO and president of U.S. Geothermal. "We're excited to show off this advanced new power plant," Kunz added. Ultimately, the site could yield up to 90 megawatts of electricity according to studies cited by U.S. Geothermal.

This will be the second new geothermal power plant expected to come on-line since Congress enacted the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005. The first was the Richard Burdette plant near Reno, Nev., developed by Ormat Technologies. "We hope the Raft River plant will be the first of many developed to tap the vast geothermal resource in the Northwest," said Dr. Roy Mink, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Geothermal Research Program.

These two new projects represent the front end of over 40 geothermal power projects under development in the Western U.S., according to the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), the industry trade association. A survey conducted by GEA in March 2006 showed a major surge in U.S. geothermal power development across the West. Some 45 projects are underway throughout Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Utah. These projects will eventually provide between 1,817.9 MW and 2,094.9MW of new electric power for the grid -- nearly doubling geothermal power production in the U.S.

"New federal and state initiatives to promote geothermal energy are paying off," commented Karl Gawell, GEA's executive director. According to Gawell, the most significant catalyst behind this new industry activity is passage of EPAct in 2005. EPAct made new geothermal plants eligible for the full federal production tax credit, previously available only to wind projects.

For additional information about U.S. Geothermal, visit the company Web site at http://www.usgeothermal.com . For additional information about GEA, or to obtain a copy of GEA's survey of new projects under development, visit their Web site at http://www.geo-energy.org  or contact Alyssa Kagel at 202-454-5261.

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