Geothermal Electricity Production at California Geysers Facility

In October 2005, Los Angeles based US Renewables Group (“USRG”), acquired a controlling interest in the Bottle Rock Power Corporation. USRG develops, and operates renewable energy and clean fuel projects. Bottle Rock Power Corporation, a California company was purchased in order to control the 55 megawatt geothermal power station in the Geysers in Lake County, California. The plan was to have the station produce approximately 200,000 megawatt hours per year of base load renewable power within about 12 months. Achieving this goal would produce enough energy on average to supply electricity to about 25,000 California homes.
The Bottle Rock Power acquisition builds on USRG's growing renewable energy assets including negotiations for biomass power and ethanol assets, and two landfill methane facilities in California. In order to fund the acquisition and operation of renewable energy assets, USRG closed $80 million in financing as part of its plan to raise a total of $250 million USD.
The Bottle Rock Power Plant is located on the Francisco Lease, a 350 acre area on High Valley Road near the town of Cobb in Lake County, California. The 55-MegaWatt Geothermal Power Plant was certified by the Energy Commission certified in 1980, and the power plant began producing electricity for the State Water Project in early 1985.
In November 1990, DWR (California Department of Water Resources) suspended operation of the Bottle Rock project due to a drop in production from the Geysers and the plant was placed into stand-by status. At the time, ample power capacity in California was available, and the requirements to restore the facility to full production could not be economically justified.
The DWR subsequently sold the power station to Bottle Rock Power in 2001.