Google has signed a deal to buy 396 megawatts of geothermal power from a project in Utah developed by Fervo Energy. The agreement, announced this week, marks one of the largest corporate geothermal purchases to date and signals how tech giants are moving beyond solar and wind to secure round-the-clock clean electricity.
Why geothermal is suddenly hot
Solar and wind farms only generate when the sun shines or the wind blows. That's a problem for data centers that run 24/7. Geothermal plants tap heat from deep underground to produce steam that spins turbines, delivering steady, always-on power. For companies like Google, which has pledged to run its operations on carbon-free energy every hour of every day, that reliability is the whole point.
The 396MW deal is not a small add-on. It's enough to power roughly 300,000 homes, though Google will use it to feed its data centers. The project sits in Utah, a state with known geothermal potential, though Fervo has not disclosed the exact site or a timeline for when the plant will start producing.
A shift in how tech buys power
For years, tech companies signed power purchase agreements with wind and solar developers, often to offset their electricity use on paper. But as their energy appetite grows — driven by AI, cloud computing, and streaming — they're looking for sources that can match their load curve minute by minute. Geothermal fits that need, and it's getting cheaper as drilling techniques borrowed from the oil and gas industry improve.
Fervo, a Houston-based startup, has been at the forefront of that push. The company uses horizontal drilling and fiber-optic sensing to tap hot rock in places where traditional geothermal wasn't viable. This deal with Google is a vote of confidence in that approach, and it could push other utilities and corporations to follow suit.
What the deal means for the grid
Geothermal still makes up a tiny slice of U.S. electricity generation — less than half a percent. But deals like this one could change that. When a company the size of Google commits to buying hundreds of megawatts from a single project, it gives developers the financial backing they need to build. It also sends a signal to regulators and grid operators that firm, clean power is in demand.
The Utah project is part of a broader trend. Tech companies have also invested in advanced nuclear, long-duration battery storage, and even small modular reactors. The common thread: they want power that doesn't quit when the weather does.
Google's deal with Fervo is a concrete step in that direction. The question now is whether other hyperscalers — and the utilities that serve them — can line up similar projects fast enough to keep up with the surge in electricity demand. That's a race with no clear finish line.
