HARRISBURG – A bipartisan bill will soon be introduced establishing regulations allowing the development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems or EGS in PA. The measure would establish a framework for the development of EGS, which allows for heat deep beneath the Earth’s surface to be harnessed for energy. The regulatory framework includes several new developments for geothermal energy, including authorizing the PA Department of Environmental Protection to regulate geothermal injection wells and create a permitting process to use them, while also establishing subsurface ownership rights for geothermal resources, which would be defined to encompass all geothermal technologies. It would also permit abandoned oil and gas wells to be repurposed into geothermal wells.
