25 July 2005

Energy Department Gives $2.5 Million to Native American Tribes

Funds support development of renewable energy sources

By Carrie Loewenthal
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- In an effort to increase the use of renewable energy on tribal lands, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently made a total of $2.5 million available in assistance to 18 Native American tribes.

The DOE hopes the funds will lead to the development of renewable energy technologies that will offset the tribes’ existing energy costs and help the tribes grow their economies while improving their environments.

“Renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies play a significant role in encouraging tribal self-sufficiency, creating jobs and improving environmental quality,” said Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman.

The grants support projects such as the Arizona Hualapai Tribe’s construction of a utility-scale wind farm, which will power the tribe’s 9,000-acre tourism facility known as Grand Canyon West. 

Another tribe, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, will use its funds to generate electricity for community buildings and a grocery store through geothermal ground source heat pumps connected to Fire Lake on their reservation.  This Central Oklahoma tribe -- the ninth largest in the nation -- also plans to build a greenhouse to conserve previously wasted heat.  The heat will then facilitate the growth of vegetables for sale in the reservation’s grocery store.

Close to 25 tribes submitted proposals for the funds, which the DOE granted on the basis of about 40 competitive selection criteria, with project feasibility providing the first major hurdle.

Recipient tribes range in size from as small as 50 members to as large as the 100,000-member Navajo tribe.  The DOE has kept on file the submissions of tribes not funded this year, in hopes that these projects can perhaps receive funding in the future.

“DOE is committed to helping Native American tribes develop their energy resources,” Bodman said.

For a list of the 18 recipient tribes and the specific disbursement of funds, see the complete list of funded projects on the Department of Energy Web site.

For additional information on tribal energy initiatives, see the DOE Tribal Energy Program Web site.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)