Geothermal · Analysis

The lake that runs the grid: geothermal and lithium at the Salton Sea

Some of the basin's steadiest clean power comes from superheated brine under a shrinking desert lake. The lithium in that same brine is the part still being built.

BY THE RENEWABLE ENERGY LA EDITORS · FILED OCTOBER 5, 2026 · 6 MIN READ ·

How heat under the lake becomes power on your meter

Geothermal here works by pumping up naturally superheated, very salty water (brine) from a few thousand feet down, flashing it to steam to spin a turbine, then injecting the cooled brine back into the ground. CalEnergy, now part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, has run roughly ten plants along the Salton Sea's south shore for decades, and companies like EnergySource and Ormat operate in the valley too. At last public report the Salton Sea field runs on the order of 400 megawatts, and the appeal is that it runs nearly around the clock, which rooftop solar and wind in the basin cannot do on their own.

Getting that power toward the coast is a transmission question, not a pipeline you can point to on your roof. The Imperial Irrigation District balances the local grid, and California's grid operator, CAISO, moves power across the state. The Southern California Public Power Authority, whose members include LADWP, has announced geothermal agreements tied to the region, per the authority's own statements, so some of this firm clean power is contracted toward Southern California load. How much actually reaches any one meter depends on contracts and wires, so treat any single figure with care.

The lithium under the brine

The same brine that drives the turbines is unusually rich in lithium, the metal in phone and electric-vehicle batteries. Because the fluid is already being pumped for power, developers hope to pull the lithium out in the same loop using direct lithium extraction (a chemical process that grabs the metal and sends the water back underground). One Department of Energy backed analysis estimated the reservoir could hold enough lithium to support well over 300 million EV batteries, a number the authors themselves framed as an estimate, not a promise. The California Energy Commission has branded the effort Lithium Valley.

Here the honest line matters. The geothermal power is real and old; the lithium business is mostly demonstration plants, early builds, and signed offtake deals, not a finished commercial supply. Controlled Thermal Resources' Hell's Kitchen project and EnergySource's extraction work have both drawn attention and schedule slips, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy has run a demonstration of its own. Whether direct lithium extraction pencils out at full scale, on cost and on chemistry, is still being proven, and the schedules have moved before.

The lake, the dust, and who pays

A shrinking lake sits underneath all of it. As the Salton Sea recedes it exposes dry, dusty lakebed (playa) that worsens air quality for Imperial County communities already carrying high asthma rates. That is a public-health story more than a bill story, but it shapes whether these projects keep their social license to operate, so this desk treats it as part of the energy picture, not a footnote.

Brine disposal, water use, and the fair split of the money are the live arguments. California levies a tiered excise tax on each tonne of lithium produced, set at a few hundred dollars, with revenue meant to flow partly to the local county and partly to Salton Sea restoration. Tribal governments, farmworker communities, and environmental groups have all pushed for a seat at the table. Who benefits, and who breathes the dust, is not settled.

Worth watching this month

1. The California Energy Commission's Lithium Valley workshop and commission notices, which are posted publicly and are mostly routine, but worth a glance when a new build or tax rule is on the agenda.

2. Controlled Thermal Resources' Hell's Kitchen milestones, where the combined power-and-lithium phases have slipped before, so lean on the company's own dated updates rather than headlines.

3. Any CAISO or Imperial Irrigation District interconnection or transmission filing for new Imperial Valley geothermal, a real signal of whether more firm power can actually reach coastal load.

4. Imperial County air-quality and Salton Sea dust notices, which matter most to nearby residents' health and can quietly reshape a project's timeline.

5. Berkshire Hathaway Energy's demonstration reporting, a useful reality check on whether direct lithium extraction is working yet at anything like commercial scale.

Where this dispatch reads

California Energy Commission, Lithium Valley, www.energy.ca.gov/about/campaigns/lithium-valley, State agency hub for lithium extraction policy, the Blue Ribbon Commission report, and workshop notices.
U.S. Department of Energy, Geothermal Technologies Office, www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-energy-salton-sea, Federal overview of Salton Sea geothermal and the DOE-backed lithium resource analysis.
U.S. Geological Survey, lithium and geothermal brines, www.usgs.gov/centers/geology-energy-and-minerals-science-center, Federal science on lithium-bearing brines and geothermal resources, for the underlying geology.
California ISO (CAISO), Today's Outlook, www.caiso.com/todays-outlook, Grid operator's live look at how much geothermal and other resources are serving California load.
Imperial Irrigation District (IID), www.iid.com, The public utility and balancing authority for the Imperial Valley, where the geothermal fields interconnect.
Controlled Thermal Resources, Hell's Kitchen, www.cthermal.com, Developer's own project page for the combined geothermal power and lithium effort, useful for dated milestones.

Questions readers have asked

Does any Salton Sea geothermal power reach Los Angeles?

Some likely does, through the state grid and power-purchase agreements. The Southern California Public Power Authority, whose members include LADWP, has announced geothermal deals tied to the region. Exact delivery depends on transmission and contracts, so no single number tells the whole story.

Is the lithium part real or just hype?

Both, in a sense. The geothermal power has run for decades and is real. Commercial lithium extraction is still at demonstration and early-build stage, with offtake deals signed but no full-scale plant yet proven at the Salton Sea.

Why does a shrinking lake matter to an energy story?

As the Salton Sea recedes it exposes dusty lakebed that harms air quality for nearby communities. State lithium tax revenue is meant to help fund restoration, which ties these energy projects directly to the lake's future.

Will this lower my electric bill?

Not directly and not soon. Firm geothermal can make the grid more reliable and less reliant on gas, but bill effects turn on contracts, transmission costs, and state policy, none of which move quickly.