Ormat Nevada Geothermal Project Approval Before a Federal Judge

The Bureau of Land Management will try to persuade a federal judge Tuesday to allow Ormat Nevada’s geothermal project to proceed over objections from an American Indian tribe and an environmental group.

The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and the Center for Biological Diversity are expected to focus their oral argument on claims that building the Dixie Valley Geothermal Utilization Project threatens the environment and the tribe’s interests in performing traditional religious practices.

The project is located near the Dixie Meadows Hot Springs, which is sacred to the tribe, the lawsuit says. The hot springs also provide the only known habitat for the Dixie Valley toad, according to the complaint.

The tribe and the environmental group will argue to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada that the agency’s approval of the project violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Ormat Nevada plans to begin construction on the project Jan. 6. It would start with bulldozing and road building before working on the first of two power plants, according to its opponents. The court should block the company from starting until it determines the legality of the federal government’s approval, the filing says.

Ormat, which seeks to intervene in the case, told the court it has invested $68 million in project permitting and compliance so far. Even a few weeks of delay “may spell disaster for the financial viability of the project,” the company says.

If the court tosses the agency’s decision, it would leave the project in limbo, according to the filing. Ormat wouldn’t be able to exercise its rights under existing geothermal leases or take advantage of “favorable power purchase agreement terms,” the filing says.

Judge Robert C. Jones oversees the case.

The Center for Biological Diversity represents itself. Woodburn & Wedge and Ziontz Chestnut represent the tribe.

The Justice Department represents the federal government. Holland & Hart LLP represents Ormat, which also represents itself.

The case is Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe v. Dep’t of Interior, D. Nev., No. 3:21-cv-00512, 1/4/22.