The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will be holding a competitive geothermal lease sale on 20 October 2026, offering 83 parcels totaling 265,691 acres in Nevada. The parcels will cover Lyon, Churchill, Mineral, Humboldt, Esmerelda, Lander, Nye, Eureka, Lincoln and White Pine counties.
The auction will be held online via Efficient Markets.
Detailed parcel information is available through the websites of the corresponding Field Offices:
- Applegate Field Office
- Ukiah Field Office
- Bishop Field Office
- Ridgecrest Field Office
- El Centro Field Office
The acreage of this geothermal lease sale is exceptionally large compared to lease sales in other states. For instance, the recent Utah lease sale offered 37 parcels across 74,891.930 acres. An upcoming California lease sale is offering 19 parcels in 40,000 acres. Considering the acreage, it would be interesting to see the level of interest in the upcoming Nevada geothermal lease sale, and whether it will perform just as well as the last few auctions by BLM.
The BLM issues competitive geothermal leases for an initial 10-year period. The leases allow the lessee to explore for and develop potential geothermal resources. The leases may be extended if the lessee establishes production or provides proof of diligent exploration. Before including parcels in a lease sale, the BLM conducts an environmental review process in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws to consider potential environmental impacts from the lease sale and to determine appropriate stipulations on use to protect other resource values.
For each parcel leased, 50% of the bid, rental receipts, and subsequent royalties will go to the state of Nevada, 25% will go to the county where the lease is located, and the remaining 25% will go to the U.S. Treasury.
The Nevada geothermal lease sale will just shortly precede another one to be held in California on 27 October. Another competitive geothermal lease sale will be held in Idaho on 17 November. The private sector in the United States has responded in turn to the higher frequency of geothermal lease sales, with a recent sale in Utah breaking several federal records. The BLM had also recently released guidance directing Field Offices to no longer permits for geothermal exploration activities considered under “casual use.”
Source: Bureau of Land Management
