BRIGHAM CITY — Geothermal energy may soon be coming to Brigham City.
Rodatherm Energy Corporation, a pioneer in next-generation geothermal energy, announced a memorandum of understanding with Fulcrum Point Holdings on Wednesday to develop its first flagship site in northern Utah.
This first site is expected to generate 10 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power about 2,000 homes. The companies eventually hope to expand generation to 200 megawatts of geothermal energy in the Brigham City area.
The surface land required for the project is about four acres. The companies have secured a number of potential locations in the area and are in the process of narrowing the list to a final site.
Construction is slated to begin in early 2027.
How does Rodatherm’s technology work?
Geothermal energy harnesses heat deep beneath the Earth’s surface.
To access it, developers drill thousands of feet into the crust. In designs like Rodatherm’s, the borehole is just about a foot in diameter at the top and gradually tapers down to 8.5 inches at depth.
Rather than relying purely on steam, Rodatherm circulates a specialized organic refrigerant through the loop. As the fluid absorbs underground heat, it vaporizes to drive a turbine and generator, then condenses through an air cooler and goes back into the system.
The process does not generate carbon emissions.
Curtis Cook, the president of Rodatherm Energy, told the Deseret News that his company’s flagship site will only cover four acres of land on the surface.
“It’s a tiny little footprint,” he said. “We don’t really do much at the surface, but we do a lot underground.”
While it’s tiny on the surface, the design descends about 1.7 miles into the Earth before extending into a series of horizontal loops to maximize heat absorption before returning to the surface.
“We go down 9,000 feet, go out two miles and come back up, and we do it six times,” he said.
Scalable energy is on the rise
In 2026, the energy market is undergoing shifts. Many nuclear energy developers are opting to build small modular reactors, or SMRs, which can be built quickly and deployed anywhere, rather than the traditional massive plant.
Similarly, Rodatherm is hoping to develop smaller sites at scale.
“The initial development is 10 megawatts,” Cook said. “But we’re really talking about hundreds of those in the future.”
Cook said his company is pursuing projects in various states across the West, including Idaho.
Rodatherm’s collaboration with Brigham City officials, including Mayor DJ Bott, began about two years ago, Cook said.
“Obviously we’re looking to build energy campuses in communities that want more autonomy and economic development opportunities,” he said. “I think there have been some opportunities Brigham City has had to pass on simply for lack of energy.”
What will the energy go to in Brigham City?
Kirt Marlow, the senior vice president of energy deployment for Hi Tech Solutions, told the Deseret News that the project will not initially have connection to a power user.
Rocky Mountain Power, which is currently owned by Warren Buffett, claims service territory for most of Utah, southeastern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming. They claim legal monopoly status in these areas under state public utility laws.
Referencing this, Marlow said, “That has been an issue. These communities feel like they really only have one source of electricity and only one source of power.”
“Giving them autonomy and giving them some freedom to be able to choose what kinds of projects they want to have is important,” Marlow continued. “Some communities may want data centers; others may want manufacturing. The bottom line is we can’t generate economic development without power.”
However, Cook referenced a new state law, SB 132 from 2025, which creates carve-outs for businesses that require at least 100 megawatts.
“That change enables us to essentially develop power to municipalities or to whomever and directly connect and build it out,” Cook said.
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