Here’s a long article on current and proposed geothermal projects, from Penny Stine writing for The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Click through and read the whole thing. Here are a couple of excerpts:
Geothermal resources fall into three categories: electrical power generation, direct use and geothermal heat exchange systems, also known as geoexchange or ground source heat exchange…
The town of Rico near Telluride is also trying to capitalize on the naturally occurring hot water that lies beneath the town. Unlike some towns with hot springs, Rico doesn’t have surface water, but the same study that identified the Mount Princeton area as the best location in the state for geothermal activity identified Rico as the second best location. “My sense is that people in Rico are gung ho for capitalizing on geothermal in some way that benefits the town,” says Matt Downer with the Rico town council. “People are seeing it as a real benefit.”
Rico will have to drill down to reach the hot water and is still in the idea stage of development. Cost estimates to build a power plant, the amount of electricity that a possible plant could generate and the upgrades that would have to be made to the transmission lines are merely wild guesstimates at this point. Should the citizens of Rico decide a geothermal power plant is out of reach, they’d still like to explore direct use of the resource. Possibilities for direct use include heated sidewalks (not a bad idea in a town that gets abundant snow and sits at an elevation of 8,800 feet), heating commercial or municipal buildings or even creating a hot springs resort.