By Elizabeth Wescoe, Legal Intern, Pace Energy and Climate Center
Since 2021, the Pace Energy and Climate Center (the Center) has issued 10 regulatory and permitting reviews for feasibility studies developed by Endurant Energy, a leading distributed energy infrastructure developer, in support of thermal energy network (TEN) projects. The Center’s regulatory and permitting reviews advise the developer on how to establish district geothermal energy systems while navigating a complex legal system. Geothermal energy technologies produce heating and cooling for buildings by using a heat transfer system that absorbs thermal energy from the Earth’s subsurface, sewer systems, or surface water.[1]
The Center hopes that its participation in TEN feasibility studies will contribute to the advancement of thermal technologies as an important renewable energy source. The Center’s first nine regulatory and permitting reviews assessed sites in New York State. The latest report, which was finished in January 2025, looks beyond New York State borders and into the Western United States. This expansion represents the technology’s growth in popularity, as well as the Center’s success in aiding developers in building advanced, clean energy infrastructure.
In New York, the feasibility study reports have supported projects that were made possible through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) via the closed Community Heat Pump Systems program (PON 4614).[2] The program has provided funding to “over 50 project sites, that have explored a wide range of technical solutions and business models for thermal energy networks.”[3] Each report has assessed the site’s areas of concern, applicable statutes and permitting requirements, anticipated challenges, potential business models, recommended steps, and authorities with jurisdiction over the project. The reports also address the challenges faced by developers, considering that regulations in New York State are in development.
The Center’s reports have contributed to New York district geothermal projects in Erie County (Silo City), the Bronx (the Peninsula), Queens (Innovation QNS), New Rochelle (Pratt Landing), Flushing Bay (Willets Point), Gowanus, Brooklyn (Gowanus Green), East New York, Brooklyn (Spring Creek Towers), Long Island City (Ravenswood), and Mount Vernon (20 South 2nd Square). With each of these locations came varying local ordinances, policies, and geographic hurdles, making each analysis unique to the area.
The Center’s most recent work is in support of a project site located in the Western United States. This location has a completely different set of applicable state and local laws, most of which focus on the conservation of water in an arid environment. The Center conducted a structured assessment of the Western site akin to its work on the New York projects, by looking at key issues with the location, environmental regulations, recommended steps, and jurisdictional authorities. Unlike New York, the Western State does have some regulation regarding geothermal energy, but it still lacks a comprehensive set of laws to guide developers, making the Center’s feasibility study report an important contribution to the geothermal project.
The Pace Energy and Climate Center’s work on these studies, in collaboration with Endurant Energy has helped to advance the development of district geothermal energy projects by addressing complex regulatory and site-specific issues. The Center’s contribution is particularly important given potential future changes to the regulatory environment for these geothermal projects.
[1] NYSERDA, Overcoming Legal and Regulatory Barriers to District Geothermal in New York State, Final Report (2021).
[2] Community Heat Pump Systems (PON 4614) Projects, https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Large-Scale-Thermal/Winners (last visited Mar. 8, 2025).
[3] Id.