Oregon location eliminated in search for geothermal lab site

BEND, Ore. – A site near Oregon’s Newberry Volcano is no longer in the running for a federal enhanced geothermal research laboratory.

The Bulletin reports that the Wednesday decision by the U.S. Department of Energy left sites in Utah and Nevada competing for the lab.

The department put $29 million into research by a Sandia National Laboratories team in Fallon, Nevada, and the University of Utah’s team in Milford, Utah. The investment is meant to help the organizations prepare for an underground geothermal research lab.

Developers and researchers in Central Oregon say they are surprised and disappointed that the Newberry Geothermal Energy site didn’t make it to the next round.

The location near the volcano was leased by Seattle-based AltaRock Energy Inc.