Hot Rock Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill builds a hot dry rock geothermal development package. The Department of Energy must fund grants for high-temperature completions, sensing equipment, supercritical-fluid research, staffing, scientist contracts, and field research sites that can test drilling, reservoir creation, flow testing, and production characteristics, with $16 million yearly for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. USGS must create programs within 180 days for seismicity and rock-mechanics research, deep basement rock mapping in states and territories, and groundwater monitoring near hot dry rock testing, with $5 million yearly. Labor must create a workforce cross-training program with at least two institutions of higher education for oil and gas workers, technicians, union members, and energy-community workers, with $10 million yearly. DOE must give BLM and Forest Service regional and district offices technical assistance for geothermal authorizations, receive $10 million yearly, and extend Energy Policy Act categorical-exclusion language to geothermal exploration.
Who Benefits and How
Geothermal developers, hot dry rock researchers, USGS, oilfield workers, union workers, energy-community workers, institutions of higher education, BLM offices, and Forest Service offices benefit from grants, field sites, risk mapping, training, and permitting assistance.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of Energy, USGS, Department of Labor, BLM offices, Forest Service offices, and geothermal permit applicants must administer grant competitions, research sites, monitoring programs, training agreements, technical assistance, and federal authorization processes.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes DOE hot dry rock geothermal grants, field research sites, staffing, scientist contracts, and $16 million yearly through fiscal year 2031.
- Requires USGS within 180 days to establish seismicity, rock mechanics, deep-rock mapping, and groundwater monitoring programs with $5 million yearly.
- Creates a Labor workforce cross-training program for oil and gas workers, technicians, union members, and energy-community workers with $10 million yearly.
- Provides DOE technical assistance to BLM and Forest Service offices for hot dry rock geothermal authorizations and extends geothermal exploration categorical-exclusion language.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Authorizes federal hot dry rock geothermal programs for research grants, field demonstration sites, risk monitoring, workforce cross-training, and federal authorization assistance, with funding streams from fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Key Policy Areas
Energy, Research, Workforce, Public Lands
Primary Purpose
Authorizes federal hot dry rock geothermal programs for research grants, field demonstration sites, risk monitoring, workforce cross-training, and federal authorization assistance, with funding streams from fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Geothermal developers
- Hot dry rock researchers
- USGS
- Oilfield workers
- Energy-community workers
- Institutions of higher education
Identified Costs
- Department of Energy
- Department of Labor
- Bureau of Land Management
- Forest Service
- Geothermal permit applicants
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and …
Introduced in House
Mr. Auchincloss (for himself and Mr. Amodei of Nevada) introduced …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Bureau of Land Management, Department of Energy, Department of Labor
Positive-direction: Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service
Negative-direction: Department of Energy, Department of Labor, USGS
Geothermal developers, Geothermal employers, Geothermal permit applicants
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "DOE"
- → Department of Energy
- "USGS"
- → United States Geological Survey
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology