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Four-State Mountain West Geothermal Consortium Launches to Fast-Track Regional Energy Projects

Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico form the Mountain West Geothermal Consortium to accelerate renewable energy deployment and scale geothermal projects across the region.

By Colin Percy · May 21, 2026

Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Colorado Governor Jared Polis have launched the Mountain West Geothermal Consortium, a multi-state partnership aimed at streamlining regulations, developing creative financing tools, and de-risking investments for geothermal energy. The initiative seeks to leverage shared resources to tap into significant underground heat potential in the Mountain West. As part of this push, officials highlighted existing projects like Fervo’s enhanced geothermal system in Beaver County, Utah, which aims to produce 100 megawatts of capacity by early 2027, and the U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored Utah Forge laboratory.

The consortium also serves as a policy framework to address energy needs for large-scale developments, including the controversial Stratos data center project proposed for 40,000 acres in Box Elder County. Governor Cox indicated that the consortium’s focus on clean, reliable energy could mitigate the reliance on fossil fuels for such facilities, noting that the Stratos project—linked to investor Kevin O’Leary—will be limited to 1 gigawatt of natural gas generation during its initial phase to meet environmental and air quality standards.

Companies mentioned

developer

Stratos

developer

Fervo Energy

other

Western Governor’s Association

developer

Fervo

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