Indian Tribes and Cities Teaming Up to Deploy Renewable Energy

March 10, 2004

Photo of the Rosebud Sioux wind turbine.

This 750-kilowatt wind turbine on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation may be a sign of things to come.
Credit: NativeEnergy

Organizations representing Indian tribes and U.S. cities announced last week that they will team up to promote tribal-owned renewable energy projects. More than 150 U.S. cities are working with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, and renewable energy projects on tribal lands could help those cities meet their pledges. The new "Energy Independence Day Campaign" brings together the ICLEI with the Intertribal Council on Utility Policies, which represents federally recognized Indian tribes in the Dakotas and Nebraska and other tribes throughout the West. The Intertribal Council on Utility Policy has proposed a collaborative intertribal project for some 3,000 megawatts of tribally owned wind power, built on 24 Indian reservations across the Great Plains by 2010. The Energy Independence Day Campaign is open to any tribe, city or local government willing to commit to producing or promoting the purchase of utility-scale renewable energy. See the press release on the NativeEnergy, LLC Web site.

Interested city and tribal representatives plan to convene during the Denver March Pow-Wow in Colorado on March 19th. The 30th Annual Denver March Pow-Wow is an intertribal gathering that runs from March 19th through the 21st. For more information, see the Energy Independence Day Campaign Web site and the Denver March Pow-Wow Web site.

DOE's Tribal Energy Program provides technical and financial assistance to tribes to help implement renewable energy installations on tribal lands. See the Tribal Energy Program Web site.