Center for Public Enterprise

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Michael O’Connor

Deputy Director of Energy for Geothermal

Mike is a Ph.D. geoscientist with clean energy commercialization and policy expertise.  Most recently, he led strategic vision, market analysis, and program development for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) across geothermal energy and carbon management, including as a co-author of the “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Next-Generation Geothermal Power” report.  Prior to OCED, he served in senior leadership offices at DOE helping to strengthen the Agency’s commercialization capabilities, as well as in the House of Representatives, where he contributed to the development of clean energy policy. 

Reports

The Firm Frontier

Read the full report here. Executive summary The western United States is entering a period of unprecedented electricity demand growth driven by data center expansion, electrification, and new manufacturing activity. Utilities preparing integrated resource plans (IRPs) face a fundamental question: what new sources of clean, firm, dispatchable power can come online fast enough to meet […]

Posts

Next-generation geothermal project finance

Despite the technical similarities between next-generation geothermal and shale fracking, next-generation geothermal technologies are an altogether different asset class—and, as such, their deployment at scale requires a different approach to the problem: project finance.
Mammoth Geothermal complex at Casa Diablo Hot Springs in Mammoth Lake, CA.

Geothermal demonstrations get their day

This week, the Department of Energy (DOE) released a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) announcing the the largest single tranche of funding for enhanced geothermal energy systems in the history of the sector: $171.5 million in grant capital to support research, development, and, most importantly, early commercial demonstration of enhanced and conventional geothermal systems. This announcement could shape the future of the industry.