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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Nevada State Office
 
Release Date: 03/25/11
Contacts: JoLynn Worley , 775-861-6515 , jolynn_worley@blm.gov
News Release No. 2011-25

Final Results for 2011 Geothermal Sale


Reno, Nev. — Geothermal leases not sold at the March 22 competitive geothermal lease sale were available the following day for non-competitive offers. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offered 34 parcels non-competitively and received offers for 12 parcels. The non-competitive rental fees of $44,843, in addition to the competitive lease receipts of $456,353, resulted in $506,446 in total revenue from this year’s geothermal lease sale.

Of the 51 parcels offered this year, 17 parcels sold competitively. Two parcels in Churchill County received the highest bid per acre prices: bonus bid of $253,580 at $60 per acre for a 4,227-acre parcel by Ormat Nevada Inc., of Reno, and bonus bid of $8,320 at $13 per acre for a 640-acre parcel by TGP Development Company LLC of San Diego, Calif. The second highest bonus bid of $29,370 was paid by Geothermal Technical Partners of Sparks, NV for a 4,894-acre parcel in Mineral County. Thirteen parcels received bonus bids of $2 per acre.

The sale offered 51 parcels in Nevada totaling 151,119 acres; 42,627.47 acres sold competitively and 44,842 acres received non-competitive offers on March 23. The remaining 63,648 acres will remain available for non-competitive lease offers for two years.

Geothermal leases are for a 10-year period. Annual rental for a competitive lease is $2 per acre for the first year, and $3 per acre for lease years 2-10. Annual rental for a noncompetitive lease is $1 per acre for lease years 1-10. Additional environmental analysis would need to be conducted to receive permits to drill or build a facility to develop the energy from the geothermal source.

Additional sale information is posted on-line at: www.blm.gov/nv/



The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
--BLM--

Nevada State Office   1340 Financial Blvd.      Reno, NV 89502  

Last updated: 07-18-2012