Sulfur deposits near a fumarole
Series recap: The Geysers’ fumaroles rise inferno-like, blasting steam plumes into the North Bay sky, while thick mineral-laden springs roil up from layers of permeable super-hot rock lying miles beneath the earth’s crust. The Geysers stretch down a dramatically steep canyon, and out across forty square miles of the Mayacamas Mountain range in northeast Sonoma and southern Lake counties.
A modern complex of twenty-two electricity generating plants mine steam from the Geysers. It’s the worlds largest producer of geothermal power. According to the final report on the Santa Rosa Geysers Recharge Project, by 1998 the Geysers had almost three times the generating capacity of their closest rival, Mexico’s Cerro Prieto.
Wastewater from neighboring communities is pumped to Santa Rosa. It’s treated, piped 40-plus miles into the mountains, injected into deep wells, thereby “recharging” rock lying like a fry pan, atop ancient, but still extremely hot magma.
This water-injection causes earthquakes.
Humans enjoyed and benefitted from these volcanic fumaroles and hotsprings for 12,000 years. At least 6 native tribes inhabited the area at the time of first euro-american contact. Recorded history notes 3 U.S. Presidents, a future King of England, Mark Twain and P.T. Barnum were among the many famed visitors to sign the “Devil’s Inkwell” registry at the once pricey resort. Over time The Geysers has been used for physical therapy, recreation, sightseeing and wonderment, and for native ceremonies.
Since 1921 “Sonoma’s Eighth Wonder of the World” has developed into the crown jewel of the world’s geothermal industry.
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The quest for electricity at The Geysers began in 1921, when a visionary gravel pit owner from Healdsburg leased The Geysers Hotel Resort. John D. Grant remodeled much of the resort, but dreamed of harnessing The Geysers’ enormous energy potential.
Grant formed The Geysers Development Company. World renowned horticulturist Luther Burbank came aboard as an investor. A photo of Burbank on-sight shows him turning a valve, letting off a little steam. Grant hired a 17 year old youngster named Glen Truitt to tap “the Witches’ Cauldron”—the hottest opening in Geyser Canyon. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but after digging mere feet from the surface, well No. 1 “blew up like a volcano”. The well-digging operation was moved across the canyon, and they went at it again.
After two years walking a financial tightrope The Geysers Development Company was reorganized, bolstered by new sources of funding. The operation contracted with and provided the town of Healdsburg electricity for a time, but cheap oil prices spelled its doom. The two tiny power plants shut down in 1934, when Healdsburg let go its contract for Geysers power. One plant was dismantled, hauled down the canyon, and reassembled to provide electricity for the resort. According to Glenn Truitt, electricity generated from this plant lit the resort buildings and grounds so that they “…looked like a Christmas card.”
The Geysers Resort Hotel burned to the ground four short years later. A good deal of press bandied about various proposals concerning what to do with the property, most emphasizing that as a sanatorium it was without equal. Indeed, that’s just how it was advertised during the brief tenure of Dr. Joseph Sooy, who operated The Geysers facilities for the three years prior to the devastating fire. It was Dr. Sooy who promoted “The Big Steam Geysers” as the “8th Wonder of the World”, while touting the health benefits of its arsenic and hydrochloric acid-laced mineral springs, and its “Radium Active Caves”.
The Geysers remained a resort until the 1970′s drew to a close. It was the end of an era. By 1980 the last buildings were destroyed and the Geyser’s turned exclusively to electricity production.
But energy development had continued right alongside Geysers recreation. This, even after initial electricity generating efforts failed to turn a profit back in the 1920′s and 30′s.
Magma Power Company teamed up with Thermal Power in 1955. The firms, owned by two close friends, jointly drilled wells as deep as 1,400 feet, selling electricity generated from their operation to utility behemoth PG&E, beginning in 1958.
The first “modern” plant at The Geysers was built and operated by PG&E, itself. It went online in September of 1960. By 1968 The Geysers was producing 82 megawatts of electricity, about one-tenth its current output.
Electricity production peaked in the 1987 at twice what is produced today. The Geysers simply could not sustain those high rates of energy production. The decision was made to cut back for the sake of production field longevity. Think pouring cold water on red hot sauna rocks. The more water, the longer it takes to reheat the rocks. In the case of The Geysers, once cooled, the magma takes a much longer time reheating the porous rock above.
Numerous business concerns have had interests in The Geysers over time. Today, Calpine Corporation owns and operates 19 of the 22 currently operating geothermal power plants. While Calpine is the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world, geothermal is just a tiny fraction of its energy wholesaling portfolio.
From an initial investment of $1 million dollars back in 1984, Calpine grew to a net worth of $23 billion, before falling $22 billion in the red by 2005. In 2004 their 89 energy complexes stretched across 21 states, producing a combined 22,000 megawatts of energy. Stock zoomed above 50 dollars a share. But it all came crashing down. Stock dropped to 30 cents a share. Calpine filed for bankruptcy in 2005, emerging whole again on January 31, 2008.
While the issue of geothermal energy production is complex, there’s little doubt that tucked way up in a corner of Sonoma and Lake Counties a unique resource called The Geysers will continue to awe, and will undoubtedly play an enormous and pivotal role in geothermal research and development for years to come.
