Community Geothermal Project Highlights of the Last 4 Months
Hello visitors and Rico geothermal enthusiasts. Our project continues to develop and gain momentum in the last 4 months with the fresh funding from the Colorado Energy Department. The Rico Geothermal Coalition has been focused on rolling out the Geothermal Community Engagement process and has started to peek local interest in the possibility of district heating for the town.
Western Colorado University lecturer Holly Brunkal explains geothermal geology at a December 14, 2024 community outreach presentation, while Teal Stetson-Lee directs the slideshow.
Photo by Todd Gillman
To ignite the process with some heat, Rico Geothermal Coalition hosted a "community outreach" brunch at Rico Town Hall in the Courthouse building Saturday, December 14, 2024, that featured 4 experts in the field, to explain geology, the mapping of the Rico reservoir, district heating geothermal energy technologies and plans for the Rico project. The presentation was also available via video-conference. In upcoming blogs the presentations will be outlined in more detail and the video recordings will be available for viewing with future posts.
The official rico geothermal website was launched in Dec 2024 to serve as a hub for public updates. If you’re reading this now, you found the site, great work! And you also found the blog, which will continue to offer the opportunity for current updates. Check out the new Rico Geothermal Coalition Facebook page as well.
A presentation was shared at Town Board Meeting on February 19, 2025 that notified the town officials and community about the successful Rico Geothermal Community Outreach Event. The presentation highlighted the community attendance at the Outreach Event of 28 community members, 10% of the Rico population. The presentation also focused on the transparency of the project, reiterating the Colorado Geothermal Grant Program Funding source, the grass-roots community education and engagement efforts and the upcoming community surveying. Questions and needs from the community were shared to the Board for the continuation of the project. The Town Board was asked to consider the question, “what does geothermal mean to you?” with the intention of circling back in one-on-one meetings with each board member to further educate and answer more detailed questions about the project, beginning in April.
The February 27th Rico Geothermal Coalition meeting introduced 3 new members.
In March 4 key stakeholder meetings were held that included: a new Rico Geothermal Coalition member, the property owner of the parcel selected for a future monitoring well location, the developer of the new affordable housing subdivision in Rico, and the Town Manager with another supporting Rico Geothermal Coalition member.
On March 26th the monthly Rico Geothermal Coalition meeting was focused on a virtual presentation from Dr. Amanda Kolker, Laboratory Program Manager – Geothermal Technologies, National Renewable Energy Laboratory on "Geothermal Research at NREL" about new technologies in the industry presented at the monthly event hosted by the Geothermal Rising Colorado Regional Interest Group (GR CO RIG).
The first of the Virtual Geothermal Café series was launched on March 27th. Six regional community members attended the informal event. Discussions included how geothermal energy could improve quality of life, community ownership of the resource, and next steps for exploratory drilling. A Telluride-based engineer joined the outreach effort, indicating regional interest. Future Geothermal Cafes will be recorded.
Written by Teal Stetson-Lee with words contributed by, Allyn Svoboda
