Congress funds geothermal energy research and fossil-fuel worker transition
H.R. 7568 — Hot Rock Act · Filed by Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Feb 13, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The Hot Rock Act establishes federal research, development, and demonstration programs for advanced geothermal energy production, particularly 'hot dry rock' technology that taps superhot underground reservoirs. It authorizes $107 million over five years (2027–2031) across the Department of Energy and Interior for research grants, field testing sites, workforce training, and regulatory streamlining—aiming to commercialize next-generation geothermal systems that could provide reliable baseload renewable energy.
Why we flagged it
The bill is a straightforward federal investment in geothermal energy research, development, and workforce training. It does not hide its purpose or mechanism—it openly authorizes appropriations for specific programs across multiple agencies. The regulatory streamlining in Section 6 is a secondary mechanism to reduce permitting delays, not the bill's primary driver.
What the text implies
- Categorical exclusion for geothermal exploration (Section 6(b)) may reduce environmental review requirements for early-stage projects, potentially accelerating development but with less public scrutiny of site-specific impacts.
- Private companies can capture milestone-based grants ($30M authorized) if they achieve technical milestones, creating a subsidy pathway for private geothermal developers that may not be transparent to the public.
- Workforce training prioritizes oil-and-gas workers and energy communities, which may concentrate benefits in specific regions and industries rather than broadly distributing clean-energy job creation.
- The bill defines 'eligible entity' to include private companies with no explicit cap on funding per entity or requirement for public benefit beyond technology development, potentially allowing concentrated private gain.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill funds public research and development of a clean energy technology with no direct restrictions on citizens' rights or protections. It prioritizes workforce training for workers transitioning from fossil fuels, supports energy communities, and streamlines permitting for a technology that could reduce energy costs and emissions long-term. The primary beneficiaries are research institutions and workers, not narrow private interests.
Who stands to gain
- private geothermal energy companies
- oil and gas workers transitioning to geothermal
- universities and research institutions
- national laboratories
- drilling and completion technology suppliers
Named in the bill
Department of Energy, Geothermal Technologies Office, Department of Interior, United States Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, Department of Labor, National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, private geothermal companies
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Feb 13, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 13, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Natural…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $370,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 5 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.
Jake Auchincloss, the sponsor, reported $785,750 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, Inc. — $260,000 on 1 filing
- Quaise Energy, Inc — $60,000 on 1 filing
- Quaise Energy, Inc. — $50,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (14,569 characters) on Aug 31, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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