Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy Alex Fitzsimmons said, “Geothermal is one of the most reliable sources of electricity that we have today, and we have the potential to unlock hundreds of gigawatts of utility-scale geothermal.”

Fitzsimmons’ comments appear to be a reversal of a Trump Administration policy that eliminated federal tax credits for energy programs—including those for geothermal—that is in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), which was enacted in July 2025 and had the support of the Republican majority. Nonetheless, the bills discussed before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources are:

• S. 456, the Streamlining Thermal Energy through Advanced Mechanisms Act (the STEAM Act) seeks to expedite environmental reviews of certain geothermal energy activities under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Specifically, the bill expands the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to include certain geothermal exploration and development activities in an existing categorical exclusion from NEPA for certain oil or gas activities. The categorical exclusion established by the bill applies to drilling a geothermal well in an area where drilling has occurred previously within the five years prior to the date when drilling begins; or within a developed field for which an approved land use plan or environmental document prepared under NEPA determined drilling to be a reasonably foreseeable activity, so long as the plan or document was approved within the five years prior to the date when drilling begins. S. 456 was introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.)
• S. 4116, the Geothermal Power Opportunity With Expanded Regions Act (Geo POWER Act) seeks to advance next-generation geothermal electricity generation demonstration projects in new regions with the goal of accelerating commercialization of next-generation geothermal technologies in diverse geologies and regions across the U.S.; to overcome high upfront capital costs for geothermal exploration and drilling; to generate public data to de-risk future geothermal projects in new geologies and regions; and to catalyze geothermal demonstration projects and innovation through innovative financing to de-risk future geothermal projects. S. 4116 was introduced by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.).

“Since the enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the oil and gas industry has been able to fast-track energy exploration and development on previously disturbed or studied public lands,” Cortez Masto said of S. 456. The “bipartisan STEAM Act, would extend this flexibility to geothermal projects,” she added.

Of S. 4116, Hickenlooper, said the GeoPower Act “aims to accelerate the spread of geothermal electricity at scale” by authorizing the DOE to provide innovative financing to projects that will catalyze geothermal in new states. “This is going to help the next generation of geothermal energy move from pilots to commercial scale, unlocking the heat beneath our feet,” he said.

Fitzsimmons further praised the bill saying, “the GeoPower Act would advance next-generation geothermal generation by establishing a milestone-based geothermal demonstration program that will help accelerate commercialization and attract private investment.”

No votes were taken on the bills, and as of press time it was unknown when—or if—they will be forwarded to the Senate Committee on Rules, which is a routine step that establishes rules for debate on proposed legislation before they are sent to the full Senate to be voted on.