- [RaeAnn] Drive along any highway or through a city, and you see them.

Power lines high above your head, moving energy to businesses and homes.

That's why every time you flip on a switch, boom, instant light.

But what if I told you if some of that energy is coming from below the Earth's surface?

And we're talking deep, deep below.

- Geothermal has the potential to provide electrical needs for the US and effect the world.

- [RaeAnn] This is a story of geothermal energy and how it could revolutionize the way we get our electricity.

- I've got kids and grandkids that they need a clean world, and the way to do that is to use the renewables as best we can.

- I'm PBS Utah's RaeAnn Christensen.

Find out how Utah is innovating energy production.

This is Utah's Power Pivot.

Geothermal energy.

While the name may sound complicated to some people, it's fairly easy to break down.

Geo means earth, and thermal means heat.

Simply put, it is energy from inside the earth.

And while it's already being used as a source of renewable energy, new research could allow geothermal energy to be used in more places than ever before.

Right now, the only way to access enough heat to produce electricity is through what's called a conventional geothermal power plant.

Those must be built near areas with hot water below the surface, like natural hot springs or geysers, which aren't in a lot of places.

While underground hot water isn't available everywhere, one necessary ingredient is.

(inquisitive music) - Geothermal hot rock is always high, and it's always receiving new heat from the center of the earth.

- [RaeAnn] So what if we could bring the water to that hot rock?

That's the goal of the Utah FORGE Project sponsored by the US Department of Energy.

- The idea here is we can create a reservoir anywhere we need it.

We can create it in a parking lot.

We can create it in cities, in towns, just where it's needed.

And so that's a tremendous advantage of being able to create these reservoirs.

It will have a very large impact on the ability to generate electricity wherever it's needed.

- [RaeAnn] Let's head down near the town of Milford in Beaver County, Utah.

This is the spot where Utah FORGE has an underground field lab.

Dr. Joseph Moore and his team are working on advanced geothermal system technologies that can better utilize a potentially never-ending source of heat.

So, how does it work?

First, they drill a hole called the injection well vertically in the ground.

And for the first time ever in the geothermal world, the FORGE project then drilled at an angle.

That's a big advancement.

Next, they use hydraulic fracturing to create cracks in the hot rock deep underground around this well.

Then they drill another hole that's called the production well next to the first one thousands of feet below the surface.

Water is pumped down the injection well.

As it moves through the cracks in the hot rock, it picks up heat.

This heated water resurfaces through the production well.

The steam it creates turns the turbines to make electricity.

After generating energy, the water cools down and is reused in the process.

- I think in 10 years we'll have it understood to the point where we can build these geothermal reservoirs anywhere we want.

We're getting close.

- [RaeAnn] Getting close is right.

In May of 2024, Utah FORGE made a big breakthrough.

Tests showed water is passing between two geothermal wells and the water is getting hot enough to produce steam.

This is a big step forward in proving that this technology could one day be used for widespread electricity production.

- If we produced even 2% of the energy between two and four miles depth, we would have more than 2000 times the energy used in the US.

- [RaeAnn] While Utah FORGE explores the future of geothermal energy, other technologies are already being used right now.

Let's head to the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City to show you one.

(inquisitive music) - We're just putting water down in there and then it's normalizing with the temperature down about 350 feet.

So in the wintertime, it comes back hotter.

In the summertime, it comes back cooler.

And we just put a loop down in there so we're not actually exchanging fluid with the groundwater.

So there's no ecological impact.

- [RaeAnn] Look through that window.

You can see a series of blue pipes.

Those pipes are part of a geothermal system that's heating and cooling the building.

Underneath the nearby soccer fields, 151 geothermal wells are pulling energy from the earth.

We've been told that geothermal is saving the school at least $70,000 a year in energy costs, and that's not all.

They're also saving 1.8 million gallons of water and preventing 378 tons of carbon dioxide from being released.

- I run a 16 kilowatt pump for five minutes an hour in the middle of winter to heat this building.

That's it.

- [RaeAnn] But wait, there's more.

John says they've been producing so much energy, they can send the extra back to other buildings on campus.

We are in a world where many people are trying to be more environmentally friendly.

- I can heat my house hotter, I can cool myself cooler, and I can do it with less impact on the economy, less impact on the ecology, and less impact on my wallet.

So, the only question is, why not?

- [RaeAnn] So to answer that question, why not, the technology isn't quite there yet for widespread electricity generation and the systems to heat and cool homes, well, they're expensive.

On average, homeowners can expect to pay between $18,000 and $30,000 for a geothermal pump system.

This initial investment is high, but geothermal systems are known for their efficiency, longevity, and ability to significantly reduce heating and cooling bills often by half.

- Geothermal has a very, very small footprint.

It's clean, it's renewable.

It really has no environmental effects, harmful effects, and it could be put anywhere.

- [RaeAnn] The FORGE Project and the University of Utah aren't just chatting about change.

They're actively laying down the geothermal path.