On Assignment; 228; On Assignment Library Footage: Jemez Geothermal

Yn pagdaag llwydrohhценrach ar matau hyn gwaithio g short Jeaillaf fel quaint yr a enw yr fod yr am y buawnt rhe'r eu l lain wneud Candóol f wneud hyn a fадиethod. In the early 1970s Union Geothermal contracted for lease rights on 100,000 acres privately owned by the Bocca land and cattle company. Public service company of New Mexico combined efforts with Union Geothermal in the late 1970s in order to distribute and market electricity generated from the proposed 50 megawatt Bocca 1 power plant in Redondo Canyon. Hops were high for this was to be the country's first large scale hot water project and was intended to generate enough electricity for a community of 50,000 people. But Bocca 1 was plagued with delays generated by its opponents.

It will dominate a plant. In other words it requires millions of gallons of water. We're concerned that we might dry up. High primary concerns with the geothermal project are the fact that the real possibility exists that it could completely cut off the entire water supply of the heinous springs domestic water co-op. Of a religious freedom at stake with this type of development. We have shrines within the heinous mountains. As a result, PNM was ordered to halt construction of the plant until such time as a certificate of public convenience and necessity was obtained. Most people see the immediate benefits of a project like this and don't look to the long-term impacts. In April of 1981, Union Geothermal met with public service company of New Mexico and the Department of Energy to discuss the impact of less than satisfactory drilling results at the project site, which a union spokesman discussed in an November 1981 interview. The drilling results at that time had been somewhat disappointing and that we didn't feel that we could finish the required steam supply for the 50 megawatt plant on the schedule that was current at that time.

Union Geothermal continued to drill deeper, using new fracturing techniques, hoping to tap the elusive fluids. But in January 1982, the Department of Energy announced their contract with public service company and Union Geothermal was terminated. The quest for geothermal energy at Bach a number one could no longer be justified in terms of time and dollars. From its initial stages in 1978, the project cost totaled $65 million. In the same 1981 interview, the question was asked, what would Union do if the project were terminated? We would obviously go back to an exploratory phase and do exploration work in some of the other canyons more than likely or possibly and try to find good production and progress from there. New Mexico ranks high among the country's known geothermal resource areas and Union Geothermal still holds a lease on 100,000 acres in the Hamas Mountains. However elusive it may be, geothermal power could figure prominently among New Mexico's future energy options.