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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
NOTE 16 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Contractual Commitments
As of March 31, 2026, the Company had outstanding contractual commitments of approximately $496.3 million, primarily related to its Cape Station Phase I and Cape Station Phase II facilities. This amount represents the Company’s contractual obligations under binding supplier contracts, including fixed and variable components.
Litigation and Other Legal Proceedings
The Company records liabilities related to litigation and other legal proceedings when they are either known or considered probable and can be reasonably estimated. Legal proceedings are inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties, and significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. As a result of these uncertainties, any liabilities recorded are based on the best information available at the time. As any new information becomes available, the Company reassesses the potential liability related to pending litigation. Management is not aware of any legal, environmental or other commitments or contingencies that would have a material effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows for the periods presented.
Environmental permits
U.S. environmental permitting regimes with respect to geothermal projects center upon several general areas of focus. The first involves land use approvals. These may take the form of Special Use Permits or Conditional Use Permits from local planning authorities or a series of development and utilization plan approvals and right-of-way approvals where the geothermal facility is entirely or partly on BLM lands. Certain federal approvals require a review of environmental impacts in conformance with the federal National Environmental Policy Act. These federal and local land use approvals typically impose conditions and restrictions on the construction, scope and operation of geothermal projects.
The second category of permitting focuses on the installation and use of the geothermal wells themselves. Geothermal projects typically have three types of wells: (i) exploration wells designed to define and verify the geothermal resource, (ii) production wells to extract the hot geothermal liquids (also known as brine), and (iii) injection wells to inject the brine back into the subsurface resource. For geothermal wells, including exploration, production and injection wells, the Company obtains applicable drilling, construction, operating and/or injection permits from the relevant federal, state or local agencies in the jurisdictions in which the wells are located.
A third category of permits involves the regulation of potential air emissions associated with the construction and operation of wells. Generally, each well requires a preconstruction air permit and storm water discharge permit before earthwork can commence.
Certain jurisdictions may also require ministerial or administrative permits such as building permits, hazardous materials storage and management permits, and pressure vessel operating permits.
In some cases, projects may also require permits, issued by the applicable federal agencies or authorized state agencies, regarding threatened or endangered species, permits to impact wetlands or other waters and notices of construction of structures which may have an impact on airspace. Environmental laws and regulations may change in the future that may modify the time to receive such permits and associated costs of compliance.
All of the material environmental permits and approvals currently required have been obtained. The Company sometimes experiences regulatory delays in obtaining various permits and approvals required for projects in development and construction. These delays may lead to increases in the time and cost to complete these projects. The Company’s operations are designed and conducted to comply with applicable environmental permits and approval requirements.
Environmental laws and regulations
The Company’s facilities and operations are subject to several federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations relating to development, construction and operation. In the U.S., these may include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and related state laws and regulations.