The Bureau of Land Management announced a competitive geothermal lease sale offering 35 parcels totaling nearly 113,330 acres across eight Idaho counties on Sept. 17, with the sale scheduled for Nov. 17.
The sale is positioned within the administration’s energy dominance agenda, opening significant new areas of public land to geothermal development, BLM said.
Idaho sits within one of the most geothermally active regions in the continental United States. The state’s volcanic geology, particularly along the Snake River Plain, contains substantial underground heat resources suitable for electricity generation and direct-use applications.
Geothermal energy produces reliable baseload power with a comparatively low environmental footprint. Unlike solar and wind energy, geothermal plants operate continuously regardless of weather conditions, making them attractive for grid stability.
For Idaho residents and Western electricity consumers, the lease sale could bring significant new energy development to the region. Geothermal projects create construction and operations jobs in rural areas and generate royalty payments to federal and state governments.
The eight counties included in the sale span southern and central Idaho, BLM said. The agency will conduct the sale through a competitive bidding process, with parcels awarded to the highest qualified bidder.
The sale is one of the largest single geothermal lease offerings in recent years and could attract interest from both established geothermal developers and emerging companies developing next-generation enhanced geothermal systems.
The Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office has identified Idaho as having among the highest geothermal potential in the country. The state currently has limited commercial geothermal production compared to Nevada and California.
Environmental reviews for the parcels have been completed under the National Environmental Policy Act, BLM said. Public protests of individual parcels may be filed during a 30-day window following the sale announcement.