BLM to hold October 2025 geothermal lease sale in Nevada
RENO, Nev. –The Bureau of Land Management will hold a competitive geothermal lease sale on Oct. 21, 2025, offering 113 parcels totaling 377,678.890 acres in Churchill, Esmeralda, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Pershing, and Washoe counties in Nevada. The auction will be held online via EnergyNet.
For each parcel leased, 50% of the bid, rental receipts, and subsequent royalties will go to the state of Nevada 25% will go to the county where the lease is located, and the remaining 25% will go to the U.S. Treasury.
Geothermal energy offers a reliable and dispatchable baseload power source with a very high capacity density which promotes the efficient use of federal lands for energy production. It is an abundant resource, especially in the West, where the BLM has authority to manage geothermal resource leasing, exploration, and development on approximately 245 million surface acres of public lands, as well as on the 700 million acres where the United States owns the subsurface mineral estate.
The BLM issues competitive geothermal leases for an initial 10-year period. The leases allow the lessee to explore for and develop potential geothermal resources. The leases may be extended if the lessee establishes production or provides proof of diligent exploration.
Before including parcels in a lease sale, the BLM conducts an environmental review process in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws to consider potential environmental impacts from the lease sale and to determine appropriate stipulations on use to protect other resource values. This environmental review includes opportunities for public comment and can be found at the BLM Nevada Geothermal website together with the lease sale notice and stipulations.
All BLM geothermal decisions must be consistent with the terms, conditions, and decisions in the applicable land use plan. Before permitting any surface-disturbing activities, the BLM will conduct an appropriate level of environmental review when processing applications for exploration or development plans, which may include site-specific conditions in addition to the stipulations already attached to the lease at the time of sale.
For more information, please contact BLM Supervisory Land Law Examiner Jonathan Estrella at [email protected].
The BLM manages about 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.