Will Colorado geothermal lease winner actually develop it?
Nathrop post office, Mt Princeton in the back, Colorado (source: stevegarufi.com)
Alexander Richter
14 Nov 2010
The company that bought the Mount Princeton geothermal lease in Colorado is 3E Geothermal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Young LIfe, which itself is a Christian nonprofit organization. Statements by the organization sound like the lease was only sold to not pursue development.
A local article following the recent sale of a geothermal lease in Colorad caught my eyes and makes one wonder. Will the winner of the bid actually develop the project? One would certainly hope so. But the company that acquired the Mount Princeton geothermal lease this week, “is 3E Geothermal LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Young Life and will “protect the natural beauty of our camp’s setting,” said Steve Lundgren, camp manager of Frontier Ranch.”
Frontier Ranch, a Christian youth camp owned by Young Life, occupies much of the surface estate of the 799-acre geothermal lease near Nathrop.
“We did not want to be in a situation where other parties would have the ability to scar the landscape so critical to giving our guests a great camping experience,” Lundgren said.
He said Young Life sees the lease as an opportunity to be a good neighbor to those who have worries about geothermal development in the area.
“We know there is anxiety about this issue, but we really share with our neighbors a common interest in the natural beauty and quality of life here,” he added.
When asked about the possibilities for developing the geothermal resource, Lundgren said lease owners have a responsibility “to make a good faith effort to evaluate the viability of geothermal resource production.”
He said Young Life desires to protect the natural beauty of the land but is “currently contemplating the most conscientious way of complying with the requirement.”
Under U.S. Bureau of Land Management terms of the lease, failure to develop the geothermal resource would result in termination of the lease in 10 years.
Young Life is an Christian nonprofit organization for middle school, high school and college students. Frontier Ranch, established in 1951, is among four Young Life camp properties in Colorado and 32 worldwide.
Based in Colorado Springs, the organization operates in more than 70 countries and reported total revenue of $236,709,902 during the 2008-09 fiscal year.”
So one can only hope that this wasn´t a process where a company bid only to hinder any geothermal development in the area.
Source: The Mountain Mail
