On January 4, 2022, Judge Robert Jones of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada issued a preliminary injunction blocking construction on the Dixie Meadows Geothermal Utilization Project for 90 days.[1] The order came two days before the developer, Ormat Technologies, planned to begin construction on the project. The Dixie Meadows geothermal project includes the development of up to two 30 MWe geothermal power plants, the drilling of up to 18 production and injection well sites and eight core hole sites, and the construction of pipelines for geothermal fluids and other associated structures. The project will be located in northern Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the project in November 2021.[2] Prior to the approval, Ormat completed an environmental assessment in 2017 and worked with the BLM and other partner agencies to create an Aquatic Resource Monitoring and Mitigation Plan. According to the BLM, the Dixie Meadows project will help the state meet its renewable energy portfolio requirement of 25% total capacity.
The federal judge’s order is part of a lawsuit filed on December 15, 2021, by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. The plaintiffs cited concerns about the environmental impact of the project. The lawsuit alleges that the BLM illegally approved the Dixie Meadows project without the necessary environmental analysis. The lawsuit argues that the geothermal project could affect religious practices that depend on nearby springs and could harm the vulnerable Dixie Valley toad. For its part, Ormat’s lawyer said the company could lose $7 million in revenue if the project’s first phase is delayed. Judge Jones, however, said that the imminent risk to the area outweighed the potential financial consequences of a short-term delay for the developer. In addition, he noted that without a more in-depth National Environmental Policy Act analysis, the federal government might not have all the information necessary for its mitigation plan for the project. The 90-day restraining order will give the tribe and environmental challengers the opportunity to appeal the decision to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
[1] https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2022/01/05/judge-pauses-major-geothermal-project-cites-nepa-284812
[2] https://www.blm.gov/press-release/bureau-land-management-approves-dixie-meadows-geothermal-project