People have used geothermal resources such as hot springs and fumaroles in many ways including healing and physical therapy, cooking, and space heating. One of the first known human uses of geothermal resources in North America was more than 10,000 years ago with the settlement of Paleo-Indians at naturally occurring hot springs in the southwestern United States.
Geothermal resources have since been developed for many applications such as production of electricity and geothermal heat pumps. Prince Piero Ginori Conti invented the first geothermal power plant in 1904 at the Larderello dry steam field in Italy. Below is a timeline of the recent history of The Geysers and geothermal energy in the United States.
| 1847 |
William Bell Elliot stumbles upon a steaming valley just north of San Francisco, California. Elliot calls the area The Geysers - a misnomer - and thinks he has found the gates of Hell. |
| 1852 |
The Geysers area is first developed as a spa called The Geysers Resort Hotel. Guests include J. Pierpont Morgan, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Mark Twain. |
| 1921 |
The United States' first geothermal power plant goes into operation at The Geysers. 250 kilowatts is produced, which is enough electricity to light the buildings and streets at the resort. The plant, however, is not competitive with other contemporary sources of power and it soon falls into disuse. |
| 1950 |
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) begin experiments and studies at The Geysers. |
| 1955 |
Magma Power Company drills the first commercial geothermal well at The Geysers. |
| 1960 |
Construction on The Geysers begins for an 11-megawatt plant — the first commmercial geothermal plant in the United States. |
| 1967 |
Union Oil Company of California (Unocal) becomes the operator of The Geysers steam fields bringing technical and financial resources to increase exploration and development. |
| 1970 |
The Geothermal Resources Council is formed to encourage the development of geothermal resources worldwide. In the United States the Geothermal Steam Act is enacted providing the Secretary of the Interior with the authority to lease public lands and other federal lands for geothermal exploration and development in an environmentally sound manner. Recycling of spent geothermal fluids back into the production zone begins as a means to dispose of wastewater and maintain reservoir life. |
| 1972 |
The Geothermal Energy Association is formed. The association comprises of U.S. companies that develop geothermal resources worldwide for electrical power generation and direct-heat uses. Deep-well drilling technology improvements led to deeper reservoir drilling and access to more resources. |
| 1987 |
Total Geysers steam production peaks at almost 250 billion pounds, sufficient for an annual average generation of 2000 megawatts. |
| 1989 |
Calpine enters the power generation business with the purchase of a one-megawatt interest in the 20-megawatt Aidlin plant.
The last new Geysers power plant is completed, bringing total installed capacity to 2043 megawatts from 23 plant sites. |
| 1997 |
The Lake County-Southeast Geysers Effluent Pipeline Project begins operations. The pipeline project is the first recycled water-to-electricity project in the world. The 29-mile underground pipeline delivers eight million gallons of treated reclaimed water to The Geysers everyday to be recycled into the geothermal resource. |
| 1998 |
The Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project is selected to transport 11 million gallons of treated recycled water per day to The Geysers through a 41-mile underground pipeline. Water is recycled back into the ground, heated, and used at steam to power the plants. |
| 1999 |
Calpine acquires most of the other plants at The Geysers, becoming the world leader in geothermal energy production and, at the time, the nation's largest producer of electricity from renewable resource in the United States. |
| 2000 |
The Geysers celebrates 40 years in operation with some 350 steam wells and about 80 miles of pipelines. |
| 2002 |
The Geysers receives the Outstanding Lease and Facility Maintenance Award from the California Department of Conservation for environmental cleanup, infrastructure maintenance and safety. |
| 2003 |
The Geysers receives the Outstanding Lease and Facility Maintenance Award from the California Department of Conservation for environmental cleanup, infrastructure maintenance and safety. The award marks the second consecutive year Calpine has received such a recognition.
The Santa Rosa -- Geysers Recharge Project begins operations, delivering 11 million gallons per day of tertiary treated reclaimed water from the city of Santa Rosa to injection wells at The Geysers. |
| 2004 |
The U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selects Calpine Corporation as a Green Power Leadership Award winner. The award for "Innovative Use of Renewable Energy Technology" is in recognition of the use of reclaimed water to enhance renewable geothermal power production at The Geysers while providing a water discharge solution for the City of Santa Rosa.
The Geysers receives the Outstanding Lease and Facility Maintenance Award from the California Department of Conservation for environmental cleanup, infrastructure maintenance and safety. The award marks the third consecutive year Calpine has received such a recognition. |
| 2005 |
The Geysers receives the Outstanding Lease and Facility Maintenance Award from the California Department of Conservation for environmental cleanup, infrastructure maintenance and safety. The award marks the fourth consecutive year Calpine has received such a recognition. |
| 2006 |
The Geysers receives the Outstanding Lease and Facility Maintenance Award from the California Department of Conservation for environmental cleanup, infrastructure maintenance and safety. The award marks the fifth consecutive year Calpine has received such a recognition. |
| 2007 |
Calpine launches a $200 million program to enhance geothermal production by up to 80 megawatts. Calpine is the only geothermal company at The Geysers to receive the Outstanding Lease and Facility Maintenance Award from the California Department of Conservation for its outstanding Geysers operations, marking t he company's sixth consecutive year of recognition. |
