Funding approved for geothermal feasibility study in Presidio County, Texas

The Presidio County Courthouse in Texas (source: Nan Palmero / flickr, Creative Commons)

The Presidio Municipal Development District (PMDD) in Presidio County, Texas has approved funding of USD 15,000 to conduct a feasibility study for a potential geothermal power plant in South Presidio County. The advocacy for geothermal was championed by Trey Gerfers, General Manager of the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District.

“The benefits could be having energy infrastructure that the county could tax, that could be a good revenue source, jobs, cheap electricity, and more business opportunities, more development opportunities,” said Gerfers to the board members.

The feasibility study will be executed by a research team from the University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology led by Dr. Ken Wisian,, who also presented to the board the potential benefits of geothermal development to Presidio. Wisian also happens to be one of the principal authors of the landmark study “The Future of Geothermal in Texas: The Coming Century of Growth & Prosperity in the Lone Star State.” This report was the product of a multi-year, multi-disciplinary, cross-collaborative effort of multiple research institutions across the state.

Wisian cautioned that the feasibility study is an important first step, but it does not guarantee a geothermal project. However, reconnaissance studies support good potential in the county. “We will survey the whole county, but the reconnaissance I’ve done already strongly shows that the heat gets a lot better the closer you go to the river,” he said.

If the results of the study are positive and Presidio chooses to move forward with the project, it will have to issue a request for proposal for companies who may want to oversee the geothermal development in the county.

City Administrator Pablo Rodriguez and Board Member Liz Rohan both expressed support and optimism for the project. “Our friends to the north in the Permian Basin have oil underneath their feet,” Rodriguez said. “We do have a solar plant here, but other than that we don’t offer a lot as far as producing electricity.” 

“I feel like we have to take a chance to make something bigger-scale happen here,” added Rohan. “I do look at this as an opportunity in so many ways.” 

The momentum for geothermal development in the state of Texas has been growing in the past several months with projects being proposed in Starr County by Sage Geosystems, and Goliad County by Geothermal Core. More recently, Senate Bill 785 became law in Texas which amends the Natural Resources Code to clearly define the ownership of geothermal resources and associated byproducts.

Source: The Big Bend Sentinel