# Fervo flips switch on next-gen geothermal power

> Utah startup brings first utility-scale enhanced geothermal system online to help meet surging AI power demand.
- Title: Fervo flips switch on next-gen geothermal power · Fortune
- Summary: Utah startup brings first utility-scale enhanced geothermal system online to help meet surging AI power demand. Fervo Energy switched on its Cape Station…
- Keywords: fervo energy, geothermal power, cape station, utah, enhanced geothermal systems, ai power demand, clean energy, southern california edison, Fervo, flips, switch, next-gen
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/09/24/fervo-next-gen-geothermal-power-grid-ai-boom
- Author: Jordan Blum
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: fervo energy, geothermal power, cape station, utah, enhanced geothermal systems, ai power demand, clean energy, southern california edison
## Fervo switches on Cape Station
Houston-based startup Fervo Energy announced Thursday that its Cape Station power plant in Beaver County, Utah is now online, bringing the first next-generation geothermal power to the grid at utility scale.
## Why geothermal matters now
The U.S. faces unprecedented power demand from the AI boom. Geothermal offers clean energy and reliable baseload power without the intermittency issues of wind and solar, making it crucial for meeting urgent needs.
## How Fervo's technology works
Fervo combines old-school geothermal science with modern oil-drilling and fracking techniques to develop reservoirs and power plants anywhere customers want, unlike traditional geothermal which relies on naturally occurring reservoirs.
## Fervo co-founder on the milestone
Tim Latimer, Fervo co-founder, said Thursday: "This is a gamechanger for the geothermal industry. It establishes EGS as the defining new power generation technology of our time."

> This is a gamechanger for the geothermal industry. It establishes EGS as the defining new power generation technology of our time.
## Cape Station's scale and timeline
The first phase is a one hundred megawatt project with three thirty-three megawatt GeoBlocks, enough to power about seventy thousand homes. The first GeoBlock just came online. Phase two adds four hundred megawatts by twenty twenty-eight.
## The next challenge ahead
Scaling next-gen geothermal power to become economically competitive is the major challenge ahead. Fervo's market cap fell from above ten billion dollars to about five billion after its May IPO, and the company hopes Cape Station will trigger an upward trajectory.
## Key takeaway

Fervo Energy switched on its Cape Station geothermal plant in Utah, the first utility-scale next-generation geothermal power to reach the grid, addressing urgent clean energy demand from the AI boom.