Board Elections of the Geothermal Resources Council – Make sure to vote

Opening Session at the GRC Annual Meeting 2011 in San Diego, California (source: flickr/ thinkgeoenergy, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 20 Nov 2017

Last week, we published an article here on the importance of geothermal energy associations. Today, we want to briefly report on the two organisations in the United States that are focused on promoting geothermal energy and development in the U.S. and worldwide, concentrating on the power generation and large-scale direct use sector.

The Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) is the oldest of the two, founded in 1970 to “encourage development of geothermal resources world-wide.” In 1972, the (U.S.) Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) was then spun out of GRC and founded as a trade organization to represent the interest of U.S. companies and engage in gathering political support for the sector.

At the time, it was legally necessary to clearly separate any lobbying activities from a registered not-for-profit organization. Over the past few years, there have been discussions on the advantages of a possible merger of both organizations in the industry to present a more uni ed voice for the industry in the United States.

The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) was founded as a trade association in 1972. It is composed of U.S. companies that support the expanded use of geothermal energy and are developing geothermal resources worldwide for electrical power generation and direct-heat uses.

Over the past 10 years or so, there have been discussions again and again on a possible merger of both organisations to create a stronger common message of both organisations. So it was not surprising that a merger is now more imminent than before, which was also communicated to the participants of the GRC Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City/ Utah in October this year.

So one can say that the representation of the U.S. geothermal sector stands at crossroads. GRC is hiring a new Executive Director and has been working on a new strategy for the organisation. With the now ongoing elections for the open board seats on the GRC Board of Directors, every member of GRC – and this includes likely all participants of the recent GRC Annual Meeting – has the right to vote. Every vote in elections to the boards of the geothermal associations counts, as well for GRC.

So make sure to carefully read the candidate statements to learn about where the candidates stand on the future of GRC and the representation of geothermal energy in the United States and for the U.S. geothermal sector. All individuals on the ballot present their own story, background and view on the industry’s future. Vote for the candidate that you trust will represent your interests, be it as student, engineer, business owner, developer or in any other role in the industry.

For us as the international geothermal community, GRC plays an important role and a good cooperation on international affairs, promotion and lobbying for the interests of our sector are crucial. So we are looking forward to be working with the board of GRC in the coming years in the interest of the wider international geothermal community.

Elections for the 2018-2019 Board Term is open until November 30, 2017 and ballots can be emailed, faxed or sent in by mail.  

You should have received information on how to vote. The Candidate  Statements can be found here.

Disclaimer: The author used to be on the board of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) and part of discussions back then on a possible merger of both organisations. The author is also today the President and Board Member of the International Geothermal Association, where GRC is a member.