Sharkey’s Geothermal Lease Now Officially Connected to Data Centers
1. BLM Records Reveal That Ormat Nevada, Inc. (a 100%-Owned Subsidiary of Ormat Technologies)—One of the Leading Geothermal Energy Suppliers to AI Data Centers—Nominated All Three Lemhi County Parcels.
View the three Ormat nomination forms
Ormat is involved in supplying geothermal power to the data-center industry. In January, it announced a deal to supply Switch data centers in Nevada. In February, it announced a geothermal agreement supporting Google’s Nevada data-center operations.
Read Ormat’s Switch announcement | Read Ormat’s Google announcement
And Ormat is aggressive in pursuing geothermal for Data centers. Their CEO said:
Today, Ormat hopes to grow exponentially with the AI data center boom, aiming to build baseload, clean power plants throughout the Western United States utilizing both new technologies and old. The goal is called EGS—enhanced geothermal systems—marrying the traditional geothermal business with the newest oil-drilling and fracking techniques. The idea is that EGS will allow for the construction of next-generation geothermal power almost anywhere the customer desires by tapping into deeper, higher-temperature underground reservoirs much more easily.” (Fortune.com: Ormat's Geothermal Pivot to AI)
Ormat Technologies is one of the geothermal industry's leading power producers and is aggressively expanding its role in the race to supply electricity to AI data centers. We have now officially moved from initial speculation and concern about a data center to a well-founded one, backed by documented evidence.
These parcels may not ultimately meet the necessary criteria to develop geothermal power. But we now have established a direct tie: A company—who is highly motivated by the rapidly expanding data-center energy market—has nominated all three of our parcels.
On October 26, all three Lemhi County Commissioners—Rick Carlson, Kim Caywood, and Lynn Bowerman—signed a letter asking BLM to postpone the November 17 sale while the County’s legal team reviews the leasing procedures and requirements.
Our commissioners listened, acted, and put the County’s request in writing. We sincerely thank them for taking this important step.
Read the signed commissioners’ letter in the appendix at the end of this document.
3. BLM Released Records—But Much Was Blacked Out
The records came through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. BLM provided 893 pages in their response, however 209 pages were completely redacted with additional redactions blacking out parts of 41 more.
Read BLM’s FOIA response letter
4. BLM Was Discussing CLOSED Lands and Historic Trails
In previous blogs, we already established that approximately 800 acres around Sharkey Hot Springs should never have been offered for geothermal leasing. After citizens raised the issue, BLM acknowledged the problem and removed that acreage from the sale.
But then we uncovered another serious concern.
BLM's 2008 geothermal planning documents identify National Historic and Scenic Trail lands as CLOSED to geothermal leasing. Yet land associated with the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail was being offered as OPEN for leasing, with restrictions—much like what happened at Sharkey Hot Springs.
And now the FOIA records reveal something even more concerning.
BLM knew that National Historic Trails should be CLOSED to geothermal leasing, as its own internal emails show staff discussing “Closed to Geothermal Leasing & National Historic Trails” back in February, months before the public comment period even began.
It was on February 19, where BLM staff exchanged emails titled "Closed to Geothermal Leasing & National Historic Trails."
In other words, BLM was discussing the very issue citizens later raised about the Lewis & Clark Trail. Yet the land continued through the leasing process without a publicly available explanation of how BLM resolved the conflict.
So what did BLM know? What did their staff conclude? And why was this land still being offered for leasing?
We don't know, because nearly the entire discussion in those emails is redacted (blacked out) in their FOIA request response.
Read BLM’s redacted historic-trails email
And What About Those Missing Maps?
If you remember, BLM's 2008 geothermal decision identified 60,464 acres in the Lemhi planning area as CLOSED to geothermal leasing. But the current lease analysis references the older 1987 figure of just 15,596 CLOSED acres.
That's nearly 45,000 additional acres designated CLOSED in 2008 that the current analysis has not clearly accounted for.
See the 1987 and 2008 BLM acreage records
So where are those acres, and how did BLM make sure none of them ended up in the proposed lease sale?
To answer that question, we need to see the correct maps.
The newly released FOIA records reveal that BLM had access to digital mapping information possibly showing which federal lands were allocated as OPEN or CLOSED to geothermal leasing. Internal emails confirm that this information was added to the maps BLM employees were using to review the proposed leases.
But here's the problem: Those critical maps and related information were not included in BLM’s FOIA response.
We, the county citizens, want to see the allocation maps that BLM is using to validate open vs closed acreage because we know that BLM has already allowed closed acreage into the initial November 17 lease sale notice (Sharkey hot springs acreage and The Lewis & Clark trail).
Why can’t BLM share the maps they are using so that the public can verify that all acreage within these parcels are legally available for leasing?
Read BLM's internal email about the geothermal mapping data
Problems With Public Notice and Development Review
When BLM proposes offering geothermal parcels for lease, it's important that the public be notified and given a chance to comment. But internal BLM emails uncovered through our FOIA request reveal that notices were never sent to the field offices' mailing lists.
Another email reveals that BLM forgot to upload important documents explaining what concerns and potential impacts the agency planned to study before approving the leases. Those documents weren't posted until May 6, the final week of the public comment period.
How can citizens meaningfully comment on a proposal when they aren't properly notified and important information isn't made available until the last week of the comment period?
Read the May 1 public-outreach email | Read the May 6 late-upload email
BLM also prepared an analysis of what development could reasonably follow geothermal leasing. In other words, what could actually be built if these leases move forward? A geothermal power plant? New roads and power lines? Could the electricity eventually serve a data center or another large industrial project?
That entire analysis was redacted (blacked out) in the records BLM released through their FOIA response.
Now that we know the company that nominated our parcels is actively involved in supplying electricity to data centers, residents have good reason to ask: What future development did BLM consider, and why can't the public see that analysis? Why was it redacted?
Read BLM's fully redacted development analysis
A Few Notes…
Keep in mind that this FOIA was requested on May 18. That means this FOIA response does not cover the final months of the sale preparation, including the later Sharkey correction nor the subsequent Lewis & Clark trail discussion.
Also, there are multiple other records referenced in BLM’s own emails that were not provided in the FOIA response.
Before creating federal lease rights, can BLM show that every remaining acre of Parcels 0049, 0054, and 0056 is legally available for geothermal leasing?
BLM should pull the three parcels from the November sale, redo the analysis using the governing records, and then offer only land that is legally available for leasing.
We thank our commissioners again for formally requesting a postponement. Lemhi County deserves answers before these leases are sold.
Read the Entire FOIA Record Yourself
We believe it's important that Lemhi County residents have access to the same information we've uncovered. The more informed our community is, the better equipped we are to ask questions, demand answers, and protect the county we love.
That's why we're making the entire FOIA collection we received yesterday—893 pages of records, along with the accompanying files—available to everyone.
Click here to explore the FOIA records yourself.
We take accuracy seriously. We carefully choose our words, distinguish documented facts from unanswered questions, and provide links to the original evidence so you can verify our findings for yourself.
And we welcome accountability, too! If you notice an error or discrepancy in anything we report, please let us know. You're welcome to leave a comment below.
Our goal isn't to tell you what to think. It's to give you the information you need to think for yourself.
Final Thoughts: Just How Bad Are AI Data Centers?
Watch a sobering video on Data Center Impacts here on Instagram or Facebook.
Appendix: Lemhi County Commissioners’ Signed Letter
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