With escalating tensions surrounding President Trump's energy and tariff initiatives, geothermal power has emerged as a rare point of bipartisan agreement in American energy policy. Lawmakers from both parties are rallying behind this renewable resource as it promises energy security, job creation, and environmental benefits without the political divisiveness that typically surrounds climate solutions. The growing enthusiasm stems from geothermal energy's fundamental mechanics and practical advantages in the modern energy economy.

Geothermal energy harnesses the Earth's natural heat, trapped miles beneath the surface, to generate consistent, carbon-free electricity and heating without relying on weather conditions or imported fuels. This renewable resource taps into underground reservoirs of steam and hot water using drilling techniques similar to those pioneered in oil and gas extraction, providing an alternative to both fossil fuels and intermittent renewables.

The current administration's "energy dominance" agenda, coupled with growing bipartisan consensus, has created a significant opportunity for major technology companies to accelerate investments in domestic geothermal resources. In light of a recent report speculating that geothermal energy could supply up to 64 percent of data centers’ surging electricity needs by the 2030s, tech companies are now leading the push toward geothermal energy, primarily motivated by the need to power energy-intensive data centers with reliable, clean electricity.

The push for geothermal energy comes at a critical time as data center electricity demand is projected to more than quadruple by the end of the decade. According to a November 2024 McKinsey study, this would require additional electricity approximately equal to all the power Texas used in 2024.

This explosive growth in demand represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the geothermal industry. Tim Latimer, CEO of Fervo Energy, believes that by midcentury, the grid could be 80 percent solar, with the remaining 20 percent provided by geothermal, serving as the "base load backbone to a flexible, functioning type of grid."

Google recently secured approval from Nevada's Public Utilities Commission for what company spokesperson Chris Mussett called "an unprecedented energy supply agreement" that will add 115 megawatts of round-the-clock enhanced geothermal power to help run its Nevada data centers. The agreement with geothermal developer Fervo Energy represents "nearly 30 times growth in the geothermal capacity enabled by Google since it announced its successful commercial pilot with Fervo in 2023," according to Mussett.

Similarly, Meta is partnering with Houston-based Sage Geosystems to develop a 150-megawatt geothermal energy project using advanced fracking technology. The project will be implemented in phases, with the first 8 megawatts expected by 2027, followed by up to 150 megawatts in the second phase, with an option for an additional 200 megawatts.

What makes geothermal energy particularly notable in today's polarized political climate is its appeal across party lines. The Biden administration backed the expansion of geothermal projects, highlighting their minimal carbon emissions, while the Trump administration has also embraced the technology.

In February 2025, newly confirmed Secretary of Energy Chris Wright named geothermal energy as one of the prime areas for department research and development. Republican lawmakers are now pushing to launch a series of geothermal energy projects on federal land in the Southwest.

"Geothermal energy's potential as a reliable and affordable renewable energy source has gone underappreciated and underutilized," said Rep. Celeste Maloy (R., Utah) at a recent hearing. "It doesn't depend on weather or foreign supply chains. It's a homegrown resource sitting right under our feet."

Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources have been advocating for accelerating geothermal projects and have introduced legislation like the Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act and the Streamlining Thermal Energy Through Advanced Mechanisms (STEAM) Act to expedite the permitting process.

The recent surge in geothermal energy can also be attributed to technological breakthroughs that have transformed what was once considered too expensive and geographically limited into a viable energy source across much broader regions. Companies are now applying drilling techniques pioneered in the oil and gas industry, such as fracking, to tap into underground heat. Houston-based Fervo Energy, which has raised more than half a billion dollars in capital, uses horizontal drilling, modern sensors, and modeling to turn heat from deep underground into electricity.

Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, predicts that the 2020s will be "the decade of geothermal" as momentum grows and investment increases. While the sector is still "10 to 15 years behind where wind and solar are," according to Taff, companies are quickly closing that gap.

Geothermal energy offers several key advantages that make it an attractive complement to other renewable sources:

1. Reliability: Unlike intermittent sources like wind and solar, geothermal plants operated at about 75 percent capacity in 2023, according to the International Energy Agency. "Even if the weather changes, the earth is always hot, and it has been for 4 billion years," noted Latimer.
2. Abundance: The International Energy Agency found that there is enough accessible heat within the Earth to increase global electricity demand by a factor of 140.
3. Clean Operation: Geothermal energy provides on-demand heating, cooling, and electricity without contributing to climate change or releasing toxins into the air.
4. Cost Trajectory: "We're on a cost trajectory where within a few years it's going to be the cheapest form of power—period," Latimer said at a recent hearing.
5. Energy Security: Unlike solar panels or wind turbines, geothermal plants don't rely on rare or critical materials from foreign powers. Most can be built using off-the-shelf components from the oil and gas industry, reducing supply chain vulnerabilities and dependence on imported resources.

Despite the growing enthusiasm, it is noted that the geothermal industry still faces significant hurdles. "The single biggest hurdle has been permitting," said Paul Thomsen, vice president of business development at Ormat Technologies, a Reno, Nevada-based geothermal energy technology company.

There are also concerns about the industry's future amid changing political landscapes. Jamie Beard of the geothermal advocacy group Project InnerSpace worries that if geothermal becomes associated with one political party, it could face significant regulatory scrutiny or be abandoned under future administrations. To prevent this, Beard's group is co-running a series of gatherings that bring together representatives from across the political spectrum and different industry sectors to secure the technology's future by "bringing everyone along."

Despite the availability and limited need for relying on imported materials from foreign powers in developing geothermal resources, the United States still lags far behind China in the race for expanding on the use of geothermal energy. However, with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory reporting that federal lands could support more than 7,700 gigawatts of renewable energy, and significant projects already underway in states like Nevada and Utah, geothermal energy appears poised for substantial growth.