The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada recently approved a long-planned geothermal energy partnership between Google and NV Energy, the search giant announced.

In 2014, NV Energy marked the culmination of a three-year project that electrically connected the public utility’s “northern and southern service areas for the first time.” The change allowed the company to explore developing “renewable energy in remote parts of Nevada” as a result.

Google’s NV Energy partnership began in 2021, when the company teamed up with Houston-based Fervo Energy to develop “the world’s first-of-its-kind commercial geothermal power project” in Nevada.

By November 2023, Google and Fervo Energy’s geothermal plant was already “up and running.” At the time, Google’s Michael Terrell told the Associated Press the company was hopeful the partnership “could be a springboard to much, much more advanced geothermal power available to us and others around the world.”

Last October, Columbia Law School’s Climate Law blog analyzed Google’s then-pending arrangement with NV Energy, explaining that a supply-and-demand issue hamstrung prior efforts to offer clean energy at scale.

To overcome that obstacle, Google “introduced a new transition rate, also known as the Clean Transition Tariff,” which enabled the company to offset financial risks to the utility’s residential consumers. Google’s novel solution can serve as a model for other utilities, potentially broadening access to clean energy for millions of Americans.

“This new type of utility rate creates a scalable pathway for utilities and large energy users to invest in clean, reliable electricity and accelerate advanced technologies,” said Google’s head of energy market innovation, Briana Kobor. 

Geothermal energy is often overlooked among renewable, clean energy options. It relies on naturally occurring heat from the Earth’s crust to generate power, and unlike solar panels or wind, geothermal energy is not affected by weather conditions.

Although Google’s partnership will likely boost interest in geothermal energy, installing solar panels remains the most accessible, affordable way to access clean energy. EnergySage provides quotes from vetted local installers and can save consumers up to $10,000 on new installations.

Google’s NV Energy partnership has the potential to spark similar initiatives across the country. “The CTT can be replicated in many U.S. electricity markets, and we are already seeing conversations emerge in several other states,” Kobor wrote. 

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“The CTT structure can expand clean energy capacity and improve grid reliability, accelerate the rollout of new technologies needed to enable clean industrial growth, and bring the economic benefits of clean energy to communities everywhere,” if widely implemented, Google observed last June.

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