City estimates put potential utility savings at up to 80% for residents of a planned affordable housing development in Boise, Idaho, according to Canary Media.

Those savings would come from using heat drawn from underground — the city's geothermal heating network already supplies other buildings, and extending it would connect more than 300 homes in the development.

Here's what to know

The city put the housing project's total cost at about $140 million. 

For the geothermal network extension, semiconductor company Micron Technology contributed $2.5 million to close a funding gap.

The Idaho State Capitol is among about 100 buildings served by Boise's geothermal heating network, Canary Media reported. The largest such network in the country, it delivers naturally heated underground water at 177 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Measured in avoided carbon pollution, Boise's existing geothermal network delivers an annual reduction of thousands of tons.

Matching that would require taking more than 2,000 gas-powered vehicles off the roads, Canary Media said.

Boise has a goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and extending geothermal service would help the city work toward it.

Operating networks are only part of the picture. Including projects under construction or still in planning, there are 33 in the United States, according to the nonprofit Building Decarbonization Coalition, the outlet noted.

Thermal energy networks move heat between buildings. Geothermal systems, which use boreholes, can be one component of those networks.

The first U.S. customers to receive heating and cooling from a geothermal network owned by a gas and electric utility are in Framingham, Massachusetts, according to Canary Media. 

Eversource Energy owns that network, which serves roughly 140 customers.

What's being done?

The geothermal heat itself would be free to residents of the Lusk District development. 

Developer J. Fisher Cos. is working on the project with Boise's Housing Land Trust Program.

Enfield, North Carolina, has secured initial funding for a geothermal network to cut household energy spending, Canary Media reported. In Denver, plans for downtown buildings leverage heat drawn from both underground and sewage.

For homeowners not ready to spend upfront, Palmetto's Comfort Plan includes $0 down options that can lower heating and cooling costs by up to 50%. Palmetto Comfort Plans also include 12 years of maintenance.

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The expected move-in year for the Lusk District project is 2028, while construction is slated to start in the spring, according to Canary Media.

Where can I learn more?

Boise's housing project is one example of how communities are putting underground heat to work.

• Fort Sill, Oklahoma, is rolling out geothermal heat pumps for military family homes.

• A Colorado home's geothermal system delivers nearly free cooling after a costly installation.

• In the U.K., 750 affordable homes receive heat from warm mine water.

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