The U.S. Bureau of Land Management raised nearly $4.83 million from a geothermal lease auction in Nevada, covering 186,641 acres across 60 parcels. The total fell short of two recent federal geothermal sales: a 2025 Nevada auction that brought in about $9.4 million for roughly 280,000 acres, and a June 2026 sale in New Mexico that netted $16.5 million. BLM originally listed 83 parcels; 10 were removed for other reasons and 13 drew no bids.
Ormat Technologies was the largest bidder, spending about $2.3 million to win eight parcels totaling roughly 20,263 acres. Two of the sold parcels overlap the proposed site for NextEra Energy's 1-GW Sawtooth Energy Center solar project in Nye County. Those two parcels were purchased by United Minerals and Mining for about $15,400 each.
Nextera had asked BLM to remove, defer, or reconfigure three overlapping parcels before final review, warning of potentially incompatible leasehold interests. BLM rejected the request, saying it manages land for multiple uses and that future right-of-way authorizations must not unreasonably interfere with geothermal operations. Because the geothermal leases were issued before NextEra's right of way is authorized, BLM said NextEra must collaborate with the leaseholder and adjust its operations to avoid land-use conflicts.