BOISE, Idaho — Tucked beneath the foothills of Boise's East End, through the streets of downtown, a quiet, nearly invisible system is powering something big: geothermal energy. This system has been warming nearly 100 buildings in Boise for decades.
According to Tina Riley, organizational strategy manager, “The beautiful thing about our geothermal system that we have here in the city of Boise is that it's an incredibly simple design. And what we like to say is we are borrowing it for its heat to heat the downtown community and then putting it back into the exact same aquifer.”
Now, thanks to a historic donation from the Harris family, Boise's geothermal footprint is set to grow potentially four times larger.
“This donation from the Harris family is hard to overstate how big of a deal it is,” Riley said. “It will allow us to quadruple the size of the system downtown.”
The city's original geothermal well, drilled in 1980, pumps 1,200 gallons per minute, quietly fueling one of the largest systems in the world. The system relies on hot water pulled from deep beneath the earth. With added water rights, the city can expand connections to new and existing buildings.
Steve Burgos, Boise Public Works director, noted, “We do have folks that are expressing interest years out. These water rights will help us in the future to meet those demands. It's very cost-effective. It's very clean. There are no emissions associated with the geothermal system. It's basically eternally renewable.”
The donation comes from the Harris family, whose roots in Boise and in geothermal energy run deep. Randy Harris, a family member, expressed the significance of the contribution.
“It would mean a lot to my dad,” he said. “He wanted the hot water to be used for heating houses. He knew it was a cheap way for you to heat houses, and it was environmentally right to do. So he would be thrilled.”
Randy added that the gift is a tribute to his father's vision and a commitment to Boise's future.
“Generations down, the whole family is thrilled that our children and grandchildren will benefit from this gift,” he said.
