Department of Energy provides funding for tribal energy projects

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced this week that it would provide $9 million in funding for 15 tribal energy infrastructure projects.

This funding will help reduce or stabilize energy costs for Native American and Alaska Native communities. The funding comes through the DOE’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs.

“This funding opportunity was the first time the Office of Indian Energy has solicited fuel- and technology-neutral projects, which expands the potential for tribes to utilize the particular resources they have available on their lands,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said. “These new projects exemplify this Administration’s all-of-the-above energy policy and principles of true tribal sovereignty.”

The funding will go towards projects to install energy systems on tribal buildings and in the communities for the tribes and Alaska Native villages.

The recipients include Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska; Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Shawnee, Okla.; Ho-Chunk, Inc., Winnebago, Nebraska; Northern Pueblos Housing Authority, Santa Fe, N.M.; Rosebud Sioux Tribe Tribal Utilities Commission, Rosebud, S.D.; Seminole Tribe of Florida, Hollywood, Fla.; Spirit Lake Tribe, Fort Totten, N.D.; and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Smith River, Calif.

Additionally, the Office of Indian Energy recently released the Tribal Energy Atlas, an interactive geospatial application that allows tribes to conduct their own analyses of installed energy projects and resource potential on tribal lands.