What has given rise to growth in the demand for electricity?
Simply, the Western States in which the geothermal reservoirs are located have the greatest increase in population in the USA over the last decade. More households mean more electricity is consumed. For example, the combined population of Idaho, Washington and Oregon in 1960 was 5,289,000. This reference year is important because, with the exception of the Hungry Horse dam, in Northwest Montana, the Columbia River hydro-dams, which the Army Corps of Engineers had commenced in the early 1940s, had been completed. The US Census Bureau population estimate for the same three states on June 1, 2001 was 10,782,000. The projection for 2010 is 12,018,000. Additionally, the state of Utah, which borders the Raft River location, grew from 891,000 in 1960 to 2,270,000 in 2001 and is projected to have a population of 2,551,000 in the year 2010.
