Power Hour! Homegrown Renewables: Geothermal Energy

Central Oregon can and should be a leader in the local generation of renewable energy. We have rich resources to explore here in our backyard. As the community embarks on discussions around creating an energy plan for Deschutes County and as the City of Bend explores local generation opportunities to meet renewable energy goals laid out in the Community Climate Action Plan, now is the time for us to come together and learn about the resources that are available in our community. This series will explore homegrown opportunities to produce renewable energy. 

First up, geothermal energy! We will review what geothermal energy is and how it is used in Oregon, dig into case studies of projects that have happened here in Oregon, and look at resources to get projects started. 

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Meet our Speakers

• Dr. Daniele McKay is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oregon. She lives in Bend, Oregon and teaches online geology courses throughout the academic year, and field courses in central Oregon during the summer. Her research background is in physical volcanology with a focus on recent mafic eruptions in the central Oregon Cascades. She is also interested in how societies prepare for and respond to natural disasters, especially volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. She has worked with Deschutes County, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience, and the Red Cross on natural hazard preparedness and mitigation in central Oregon.

• Joshua Reed, Project Manager, Renewable Energy, Energy Trust of Oregon

Future events will include conversations about biomass, micro-hydro, and solar. The full line-up will be listed on our the Power Hour page as details are released!

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You can kick off this discussion topic by attending the Central Oregon Geoscience Society’s event, Newberry Volcano Geothermal Projects, Past and Future, on Tuesday, March 22nd.

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These events are meant to be exploratory and not necessarily answer which sources of energy are the best for each community. Rather, we want to see communities engage in robust dialogue about what is available so that when it comes to making energy plans and decisions on where we prioritize getting energy from, we all have some foundational knowledge to work from.

Since we are not the only community navigating renewable energy and energy planning conversations right now we are collaborating with Sustainable Northwest and their Making Energy Work coalition to expand this conversation across rural Oregon so that we can learn from more communities engaging in this impactful work right now.

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