California Energy Commission

The California Energy Commission’s Geothermal Program was created by Assembly Bill 1905 (Bosco) and has been in operation since 1981. During the first decade, it promoted California geothermal energy development by extending financial and technical assistance to public entities to support direct uses, planning, and mitigation projects. In 1992, the program was expanded to include financial assistance to private entities for research, development and commercialization projects. The funding source is revenue paid to the United States government by geothermal developers from production on federal leases in California. Typically, there are funds available each fiscal year in the Program’s Geothermal Resources Development Account for awards to qualifying applicants, and are provided as grants or loans.