Full steam ahead: Legislation in Sacramento could spark Mendo County geothermal boom

by Aly Brown, Bay City News August 26, 2025August 25, 2025

FILE: A steam line runs down to a generating unit at The Geysers along the border of Sonoma and Lake counties. Calpine Corporation, the largest geothermal power producer in the U.S., owns and operates 13 power plants at The Geysers, the largest complex of geothermal power plants in the world, with a net generating capacity of about 725 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 725,000 homes, or a city the size of San Francisco. (U.S. Department of Energy via Bay City News)

HEADED FOR THE Senate Appropriations Committee this week are two state assembly bills that could spell out a big win for California geothermal energy projects.

While the proposed legislation is not without opposition, the passage of assembly bills 527 and 531 could also mean thousands of new jobs in Mendocino County as power companies eye the region for geothermal.

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