Table Of ContentGeothermal Energy
Development
PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS IN THE
IMPERIAL VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA
Geothermal Energy
Development
PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS IN THE
IMPERIAL VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA
Edgar W. Butler James B. Pick
and
University of California
Riverside, California
Plenum Press • New York and London
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Butler, Edgar W.
Geothermal energy development.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Geothermal engineering-California-Imperial County. I. Pick, James B. II.
Title.
TJ280.7.B87 333.3'815'0979499 81·23402
ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-7008-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-7006-2
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-7006-2
© 1982 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 18t edition 1982
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical. photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
To my parents
Helen Block Pick and Grant Julius Pick
IP.
To Pattie, Brian, and Tracey Butler
E.B.
Foreword
What are the effects on an isolated region when an entirely new and
major energy resource is developed to commercial proportions?
What happens to the population, the economy, the environment, the
community, and societal relations? How does the government frame
work respond, the family structure adapt, the economy expand, and
life styles change under the impact of new forces which hold a prom
ise of much benefit and a risk of adverse consequences?
Imperial County, California, has a population of less than 90,000
people. This population has been exceptionally stable for years, cen
tered as it is in an agricultural and recreational framework. The county
is somewhat cut off from other areas by geographic barriers of moun'"
tains and desert, by state and natural boundaries, and is the most
remote of all 58 counties of California from the state capitol, Sacra
mento.
In the decade of the 1950s, geographical explorations for oil re
vealed some anomalous structures underlying the desert and agricul
tural areas in Imperial County. These, when drilled, seemed to be oil
less and hot, and so lacked attractiveness to petroleum wildcatters.
In the decade of the 1960s, Dr. Robert Rex from the University of
California, Riverside, and other scientists developed more completely
the geological features of the region, including explorations of high
flow zones associated with the multiple faulting of the area, and for
circulation of underground water which might be the conduit for ma
jor heat flows from deep magmatic intrusions to relatively reachable
depths. The discovery of wells yielding very hot and very concentrated
brines near Niland baffled commercial development for either energy
or for minerals, but fired the imagination of pioneer geothermal de
velopers.
Meanwhile, geothermal heat as a source of electric power and also
by-product heat gained increasing attention world-wide as a petro-
vii
viii Foreword
leum shortage loomed. Pioneer developments in Italy and New Zea
land were followed by development of the world's largest geothermal
electric generating complex in the pure steam area of The Geysers,
California. Then, Mexico pioneered a mixed phase flashed steam
power plant at Cerro Prieto, just a few miles south of Imperial County.
In the 1970s came a series of geothermal discoveries in Imperial
County: Heber, North Brawley, and East Mesa, along with the earlier
Niland discovery-all of which have attracted commercial developers
seeking to generate electric power for export to metropolitan San
Diego and Los Angeles. Many apparently successful wells have been
drilled and tested, and the first power-generating facilities are now
under construction.
The people of Imperial County have regarded these developments
with optimistic interest and with equanimity. They appear to look
hopefully for new economic development which may be overlaid on
the agricultural base to provide jobs for young people who would oth
erwise migrate out. They do not want the attractive agricultural life
style to be destroyed, yet they would encourage more widely available
power sources for air conditioning and heating in the severe desert
climate, and for intensive agricultural and industrial applications.
They are open to change and to economic development provided it
does not impair the quality of air, water, and land; strict environmen
talists and "no-growth" advocates are not widely found among the
population.
Under these circumstances, local government has moved ration
ally and with dispatch to make possible the development of the geo
thermal resource. The county has handled zoning and permitting pro
cedures in a manner often held up as a fine example of protection of
public interest with minimal red tape.
So, Imperial Valley now faces a construction phase in which sev
eral electric generating facilities will be built to feed power through
one or more transmission corridors to the neighboring population cen
ters. Some jobs will be created for local workers, but in the main, the
highly specialized well-drilling technicians and construction workers
will come in from outside for temporary periods and then depart.
After demonstrating feasibility and safety in generating geother
mal power, the installations will probably proliferate to a multitude of
small plants, which may approach 1000- to 3000-MW capacity in aggre
gate. Some land will be diverted from agriculture, as the authors Pick
and Butler point out. Some help will be developed for the energy
shortfall, and some downward pressure will be applied to rising
power costs.
Foreword ix
But again, as the authors describe, the major effects on land use,
on life-style, on demographics, on the social structure and on the
economy will be driven by the degree and amount of agribusiness and
industrial development which associates itself with the geothermal re
source. Several possible scenarios can be constructed, and some of the
consequences can be predicted with a degree of sureness.
Edgar W. Butler and James B. Pick are experienced observers and
qualified social scientists from the University of California, Riverside.
They have, in this volume, attempted to analyze the data on popula
tion and economy which have been compiled about Imperial County.
Fortunately, through the foresight of the county government and
funding from Federal sources, voluminous base-line statistics have
been compiled, and perceptions of people, and the plans of thought
leaders have been tabulated.
By use of regression analysis and other analytical tools, the au
thors are able to project the impact of the outcomes of several possible
scenarios for development. These projections will be of great value in
guiding policy makers in a period of change.
It is fortunate that a moment of history-the emergence of a sta
ble, agricultural economy into a mixed economy with possible rapid
growth-can be studied and analyzed and projected.
The effects of geothermal development may not be understood
now. Many of them can be very beneficial; some can be adverse. But
the effects can be managed if there is community understanding and
effective leadership.
It is to be hoped that this volume will contribute to that under
standing and will undergird effective leadership.
Victor V. Veysey*
Director
Industrial Relations Center
California Institute
of Technology
"Former U.S. Congressman representing Imperial County.
In trodu ction
Energy development in a natural resource area such as the Imperial
Valley proceeds by surges and ebbs like the tide. This results from the
contribution of new technology and new market conditions which
stimulate a wave of resource development. Many of the geothermal
prospects that can be developed with the economic incentives cur
rently available will be tested and brought to market, or as has been
the case in the past in the Imperial Valley, set aside pending changed
market conditions. The Imperial Valley has historically followed this
pattern. In the 1920s, there was a period of exploration and test drill
ing in the area of the Salton Sea at Mullet Island. This resource proved
to be unable to compete with surplus natural gas as an energy re
source. It was followed in the early 1960s with another round of ex
ploratory drilling which uncovered the hypersaline high-temperature
brine underlying the Salton Sea geothermal area. Careful evaluation of
this resource by several companies showed that it also was not com
petitive with natural gas as an energy resource and was not competi
tive as a potash resource because of the low cost of Canadian potash.
In the early 1970s, another round of exploration and development
started with drilling at Heber, North Brawley, East Mesa, and the Sal
ton Sea. By the late 1970s, development expanded into the Westmore
land area and into the South Brawley area near the town of Imperial.
Small 10-MW power plant facilities are being developed at East Mesa
and North Brawley, with others planned for 1980 and 50-MW plants
announced for East Mesa, Heber, and the Salton Sea areas. It appears
as though the 1980s will be the decade of commercial development.
It is rare that major energy resource can be developed with in
tense scrutiny of environmental and sociological factors from the in
cipient stages of commercial development through to full develop
ment. The Imperial Valley may become one of these exceptional
examples. The University of California at Riverside has attempted to
xi
xii Introduction
place into the public domain a considerable body of information con
cerning both the scientific aspects of the resource and the sociological
aspects of the early phases of development of geothermal energy. The
VCR group combined effort in the sociological area is tryidg to reduce
a large mass of data and a series of studies into a comprehensive book
for the general reader with a strong technical background. As a former
VCR faculty member, I can appreciate the incredible amount of work
that has gone into preparing this book, and invite the reader to peruse
it chapter by chapter, as the sections to a significant degree can stand
independently. The depth and breadth of this effort is far greater than
might appear on first reading, and as a reviewer of the various chap
ters, as well as someone who has spent nearly 30 years working in the
Imperial Valley, I recommend this book to those who would like an
insight into the impact of energy development in one of the more co
herent communities in the western Vnited States. What makes this
study so important is the concentration in one isolated region of a
remarkably large energy resource. It is, in essence, a natural laboratory
for sociologists and economists to monitor to see how energy resource
developers and an established community work together for better or
for worse. It is the hope of all of us involved with this volume that it
aid this effort in a constructive way.
Robert W. Rex
President
Republic Geothermal, Inc.
Preface
Part of this geothermal research grew out of the National Science
Foundation (NSF) and Department of Energy's (DOE) Imperial County
project. t The goals of that particular study were as follows:
1. To assess the extent of the resource as a means of determining
the potential value of geothermal development versus other
economic activity in Imperial County.
2. To determine alternative technologies and production costs for
developing geothermal resources as a means of testing feasibil
ity, cost, and value of geothermal resource.
3. To determine agricultural losses, as land is taken out of agri
cultural use and put into geothermal use, as a means of com
paring the relative value of the two resources.
4. To determine the social costs (or human effects) for the purpose
of abating the impact on people, employment, and social
changes.
5. To determine environmental effects as a means of abating
noise, subsidence, waste-water, air pollution, or other adverse
ecological impacts.
6. To estimate the economic trade offs involving all the direct and
indirect benefits and costs of geothermal development as a
means of showing gains and losses to the various interest par
ties in Imperial County.
7. To assess the political interest groups and intergovernmental
jurisdiction as a means of resolving conflicts among goals and
arriving at the public interest.
S. To utilize the research for decisions as a management means of
t DOE was the Energy Research Development Agency (ERDA) at the time of this re
search. The NSEIDOE part of the research was carried out under grant No. AER 75-
08793.
xiii
