Feds consider backing Utah geothermal plant

PROVO — Raser Technologies Inc. says it has qualified for government-backed loans to triple the size of a geothermal power plant in the central Utah desert.

The Provo company began selling electricity from the plant April 16, but the geothermal field about 15 miles west of Minersville in Beaver County has a lot of potential for expansion.

Raser's chief financial officer, Martin F. Petersen, says the company could be awarded $150 million in government-backed loan guarantees by late summer.

The U.S. Department of Energy notified the company last week that the project — adding 46 megawatts of power capacity — qualifies for the loans. Now the company's application is moving ahead for possible financing under a federal program that encourages new energy technologies.