Hickenlooper Celebrates Committee Passage of His Bipartisan Energy Bills

Hickenlooper led the Geo POWER Act and co-led the Earth MRI Act

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper celebrated the Senate Energy and Natural Resource (ENR) Committee's passage of two Hickenlooper-led bipartisan bills.

The committee passed Hickenlooper's Geo POWER Act, as amended, which would help accelerate geothermal technologies and deliver clean, reliable electricity across the country, and the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) Reauthorization Act, which he co-leads with Senator Murkowski, to fund the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth MRI program. A program that improves our understanding of critical mineral, geothermal, and other subsurface resources across the country.

"America is an energy powerhouse, but our energy needs are growing rapidly," said Hickenlooper. "To meet our energy demand, we need to invest in activities that make it possible to further unlock our full potential. If we do, we can secure lower energy costs for Americans, shore up our national security, and build tomorrow's energy infrastructure today."

The Geo POWER Act's committee passage comes on the heels of Colorado's National Laboratory of the Rockies being chosen as the launch point for the Geothermal Center of Excellence earlier this month. The Act provides a significant $800 million investment in unlocking geothermal energy here in the U.S.

Specifically, the Geo POWER Act would:

• Require the Department of Energy to provide innovative financing to projects that are planning or enabling new aggregate electricity generation of at least 30 megawatts in multiple states with limited to no existing geothermal electricity generation;

• Generate public data to de-risk future geothermal projects in new geologies and regions;

• Ensure fiscal accountability by requiring projects to achieve milestones to access additional financial support; and

• Accelerate the commercialization of next-generation geothermal technologies in new regions across the United States.

The Earth MRI Act would:

• Reauthorize Earth MRI for an additional five years at levels similar to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

• Expand the program to include natural hydrogen, an emerging domestic energy resource.

Hickenlooper is also a cosponsor of the Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act, which passed the ENR committee today as well. The bill would fund critical cybersecurity grants and technical assistance for public power utilities across Colorado.

Hickenlooper, a former geologist, is a strong supporter of an all-of-the-above energy approach, which he helped move the U.S. towards in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, investing billions in clean energy generation.

He's also called for a 'Project Mercury' for critical materials, arguing that America needs to take back the reins on critical minerals production to secure energy independence. In the 119th Congress, Hickenlooper has led and co-sponsored multiple other critical minerals related bills, including:

• The bipartisan STRATEGIC Minerals Act to foster critical minerals trade with our international allies;

• His bipartisan Unearth Innovation Act to establish a DOE program for sustainable critical mineral research innovation and recycling; and

• His bipartisan Critical Materials Future Act to establish a pilot program for the Department of Energy to financially support domestic critical material processing projects.

• His bipartisan National Critical Minerals Council Act to coordinate strategy for critical minerals across Federal agencies.

###