With Energy Department support, the Klamath Falls campus will utilize 1.5 megawatts (MW) of newly installed geothermal capacity combined with a 2 MW solar array, making OIT the first university in North America to generate most—if not all—electrical power from renewable sources.

CEO John Fox, Electratherm, with Low-Temperature Technology Manager Tim Reinhardt, at the Department of Energy join Joel Murphy, general manager of the Florida Canyon Mine to mark the beginning of another promising clean energy commercial enterprise. The mine's byproduct of geothermal brine allows for an additional revenue stream from existing infrastructure. Thanks to a $1 million Geothermal Technologies Office investment, heat from geothermal fluids is generating electricity this year for less than 6¢ a kilowatt/hr, with ElectraTherm's new plug-and-play technology. Building on this first-of-its-kind success, this emission-free electricity is the first in the nation to be generated from cost-free geothermal brine at a mine operation, and the technology has the potential for extremely broad application in many parts of the country, including oil and gas operations.