Looking to tap into the power of hot springs

MOUNT PRINCETON - These hot springs have attracted bathers for centuries, from American Indians and early miners to today's tourists, who soak in the volcanically heated water that bubbles out from under the mountains.

Now, there's a plan to get some practical use out of this Chaffee County hot spot.

For the first time since the energy crisis of the 1970s, geothermal electricity production is getting a serious look in Colorado, and Mt. Princeton Geothermal LLC hopes to build the first plant, near the hot springs.

Support for renewable energy has been strong in Colorado. Voters in 2004 approved a ballot measure requiring utilities to get 10 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2015, and a law signed last year by Gov. Bill Ritter expanded it to 20 percent by 2020.

The law says rural electric associations, many of which were allowed to opt out of the ballot measure requirements, and municipal utilities, which were exempted, are required to reach 10 percent by 2020.

Because of its geology, Colorado has some of the greatest potential in the nation for geothermal energy, and the Mount Princeton project has the support of the Governor's Energy Office.

"I'd like to try," said Mike Batzle, a Colorado School of Mines professor whose students are working with geologist Fred Henderson to survey the geothermal potential.

"It's to the point that people have got to quit screwing around and just put one in and see what happens," Batzle said.

In many areas of the state, mostly in the high country, volcanically heated water is pushed to the surface through faults. Some sites are tourist destinations, some are used to heat buildings, but nowhere in Colorado is such water used for electricity production.

The Mount Princeton area, at the intersection of two major faults, has the hottest water reaching the surface in the state.

In the 1970s, energy companies drilled holes across the upper Arkansas River valley looking for steam to power turbines and generate electricity.

The Arab oil embargo had spiked fuel prices, and President Richard Nixon's Project Independence made finding domestic energy sources a priority.

By the early 1980s, oil prices were declining, renewable energy had lost its luster and the drilling was abandoned.

Two years ago, with the price of fossil fuels once again rising, the Colorado Geological Survey began revisiting the state's hot springs to evaluate the geothermal energy potential.

Meanwhile, Henderson, a mining geologist who bought a home in the shadow of Mount Princeton 10 years ago, started thinking about heat flows in the area.

He was struck by how wells drew hot water on one side of his land and cold water on the other.

At a convention he met Denver businessman John Held, who had worked on ethanol projects, and they decided they had a hot idea.

"To me, it's just like looking for a mine," Henderson said. "Sure, I hope to make some money out of it, have a profitable business. But it's nice to do it with green energy."

They put together a proposal and have gained the support of many neighbors.

"The possibility of creating clean power for a lot of people, that's something low impact, is exciting to a lot of us, especially when gas is $4.50 a gallon," said Tom Warren, manager of the Mount Princeton Hot Springs, which owns land that could host a geothermal plant.

"Pulling the heat out of it and putting the water back down, that doesn't sound like a bad thing to me," said nearby property owner Dick Michaud.

While the exploration in the 1970s focused on steam, Henderson is looking for heat. The technology is available today to use heat from the 180-degree water below the ground to power a turbine and then inject cooled water back underground.

Henderson estimates it could generate 10 megawatts or more, enough to power about 5,000 homes. The power would probably be sold to an electric cooperative, to help it meet the renewable energy requirements.

There are transmission lines nearby, which makes Mount Princeton a much more cost-effective option for a geothermal plant than other remote high-heat areas in Colorado.

There are plenty of uncertainties. Henderson doesn't know how large the plant would be. The company doesn't have all the funding and is seeking investors and hoping for government subsidies or grants.

And, if the prices of coal and natural gas, the most common power-plant fuels, were to drop drastically, the project could be in danger.

"That's the driver, the cost for our fossil fuels. It really does come down to economics," said Matt Sares, chief of environmental geology for the Colorado Geological Survey.

Supporters say that even if the project is successful, geothermal will never supplant coal and gas on its own. But some hope, combined with solar and wind power, geothermal power could decrease dependency on fossil fuels.

"We know how to do wind in our state. We know how to do solar in our state. Geothermal is kind of in its infancy in Colorado," said Joani Matranga, western regional representative for the Governor's Energy Office.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-1605 or scott.rappold@gazette.com