Here's a Recap of Day 2 of the 2025 NY-GEO Conference!

The day got off to a strong start with Susanne DeRoches, Senior VP of Clean and Resilient Buildings at NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority).

Susanne energized the crowd with a call to action, urging U.S. citizens and geothermal advocates alike to dive into regulatory proceedings and keep pushing for meaningful change.

"NY-GEO is a critical component to advancement of geothermal technologies across the state and across America," DeRoches said.

The day’s first keynote, Congressman Paul Tonko, took the stage with a fiery call to action, stressing the urgent need to raise our voices in defense of vital energy tax credits.

Here are some highlights from Congressman Tonka's speech:

• "Considering consumer facing tax credits, over 3.4 million households have received $8 billion worth of tax incentives just last year by making clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades - that's an important statistic as more and more states begin to offer rebates for households to support energy efficiency."
  
  
• "Home insurance costs are rising significantly due to the increase chance of flooding, hurricanes, and wildfires. One study showed that home values could decline by $1.5 trillion by 2055 due to the impasse of climate change. I believe geothermal can be an excellent solution to not only address climate change, but help homes retain and increase their values."
  
  
• "I believe you deserve to hear an honest assessment and a frank approach to the state of our federal geothermal incentives. I would strongly encourage you to reach out to your government and tell them to protect those incentives that geothermal relies upon."

After Congressman Tonko, Thursday’s first plenary began with Ryan Dougherty (Geothermal Exchange Organization), John Thomas (WaterFurnace International), Colette Gagnet (Eide Bailly), and The Driller’s Brock Yordy (Geothermal Drillers Association).

Tariffs and Their Impact

The panelists talked about tariffs and its impact on manufacturing: “All of the industry is in the process of attempting to track what your country of origin is, what the latest scoreboard says on what the tariff level is, and what impact that may have on what you need to do to recover the cost impact. The biggest concern right now is that a big portion of the refrigerant R32 is processed and manufactured in China. We’ve already been notified that the cost of refrigerant is going up. If we don’t reach an agreement with Mexico that’ll also be very impactful. A lot of those components are made there,” said John Thomas.

Shortly after, John Thomas gave an incredible monologue about the importance of drillers: “If you’re a contractor installing and servicing units, if you’re a driller that’s drilling boreholes, if you’re a loop installer that’s installing loops – I’m asking you to stand up. The people that are standing represent the future of the transformation of 120 years of energy infrastructure. Nothing happens in this industry until drillers go into action. We need to recruit more folks into this category.”

Culture and Workforce

Lastly, Colette Gagnet progressed the conversation on culture and workforce: “At the end of the day, if you can provide clean technology at the same cost or even cheaper -  most Americans just care about a hot shower and a cold beer – if you can provide that and improve the environmental situation, that’s really what we’re going for,” Colette Gagnet said.

Brock Yordy concluded the panel with this:

“No taxes on overtime just tells me that they took the young individuals gain and I exploited them because they have an unbroken back and no commitment to a family yet. And the moment that they end up wanting to have more and follow the American dream, are they going to want to work 65 hours a week?" Yordy asked.

"Our culture change is happening right now. And for construction - to get us back to 13 or 14 million working in construction, would be a big lift. We’re at 8.25 million Americans working in construction. Half a percentage of those work in drilling. There’s 9 million open jobs right now and we got to show them that there’s a career and future here. And that’s going to come from all the hard work here,” Brock Yordy concluded.

Themes and Takeaways

The focus on the vital role of drillers in the geothermal industry continued during the Update on NYS Geothermal Drilling Regulations panel. “Without the boreholes, we don’t have geothermal. These drillers are the experts. The more conversations you can have with drillers, the better. Don’t trust a spec book — ask questions,” said Kevin Moravec (Barney Moravec, Inc.).

As the editor of The Driller, this conference left me energized and confident about the future of the geothermal industry. It made me even more excited to hear — and tell — more stories from this growing field. I met engineers, drillers, policymakers, government officials, and everyone in between. A common theme echoed throughout: we’re all in this together. And there are many organizations and businesses working tirelessly to make a real impact - with significant progress already being made. In most breakout sessions, representatives from different businesses showcased numerous projects either underway or completed — just within New York State alone.

And globally, the geothermal industry is heating up as well. The final session at NY-GEO took us on a world tour — from the U.K. to Australia, Sweden to France — highlighting the variety of geothermal drilling practices across the globe. Geothermal is truly a global movement, and every method brings something valuable to the table. A special shoutout to Christine Hoffer and John Ciovacco, who did an incredible job creating a conference that felt like a true community gathering — every panel and keynote felt more like an open, honest discussion than a formal presentation.