Geothermal Power Geothermal power Experts believe the Northwest has enough potential geothermal power to serve more than 1.3 million homes.
Geothermal energy is heat from deep in the earth.
The heat is brought near the surface by underground circulation of water and by the intrusion into the earth's crust of molten magma. The portion of geothermal energy that can easily be developed is trapped in saturated, fractured hot rocks near enough to the earth's surface to be reached by drilling. Wells, sometimes over two miles deep, bring the steam or hot water to the surface, where the steam is used to to run an electrical generator in a geothermal power plant. The hot water is returned to the periphery of the geothermal reservoir. Potential The Pacific Northwest has the potential to generate up to 11,000 megawatts of electricity from geothermal power.