The Elko Heat Company District Heating System is located in the city of Elko, Nevada, in the southwestern part of Elko County. Elko County is located within the Basin and Range Physiographic Province in the southwestern United States. The Elko Heat Company district heating system is one of two district heating systems in Elko, with the other being the publicly-owned system operated by the Elko School District. The system was initiated in 1978 when the United States Department of Energy, under its “Field Experiments for Direct-Uses of Geothermal Energy” Program Opportunity Notice (PON), granted financial assistance for the development of a district heating system to serve the core business area of downtown Elko