Total Energy Concepts, Inc Chevron Beaverton go Geothermal

If it weren't for the temporary signs that Bob Barman posted all around, most drivers stopping for a fill-up wouldn't know there's something revolutionary going on at his new Highland Chevron gas station and Extra Mile convenience store.

Thanks to features largely out of sight, nature quietly keeps the lights bright and the coolers full of frigid soda and energy drinks.

A geothermal well plunges 426 feet below ground, exchanging heat through groundwater. Naturally cool water helps run the Extra Mile's bank of refrigerators. Water pipes gather heat that cooling units extract and store it far underground as hot water.

"All summer, we stuff heat in the ground. All winter, we take it back out," said John Lower, whose Vancouver-based Total Energy Concepts installed the geothermal system.

The store is heated and cooled with a geothermal heat, keeping the customers and employee's cool in the summer and warm in the winter.