For decades, the Oregon Institute of Technology has drawn from the earth to warm its classrooms, heat its swimming pool and melt snow from its sidewalks. Now the rumble of heavy equipment and the installation of a 150-foot-tall drilling tower signal the school's leap toward energy self-sufficiency. Within a year, OIT will become the first campus in the world powered entirely by its own renewable geothermal source. The massive drilling rig will punch into a geological fracture almost a mile below ground, tapping 300-degree water to feed a 1.5-megawatt electrical plant. The $4.5 million high-heat plant will produce enough energy to power the entire Klamath Falls campus -- and then some. The school already saves about $1 million annually in heating costs and plans to make about $200,000 by selling geothermal heat.
