Also, it’s giving us a chance to do our part in reducing the carbon footprint, and to help slow down climate change.” “We do need the jobs and revenue that this project would create, and it also coincides with our culture in taking care of the earth and climate. The tribes want to control their own energy resources. That would mean the tribes would lose some control of the project, a specter that Jack said has hamstrung their efforts in the past.įor years, according to Jack, the South Dakota tribes “have been trying to do clean-energy projects, but we all run into the same problems, such as investors wanting to come in and own the project, and to just lease the land from the tribes. If the authority cannot gather up $10 million in collateral in the form of, say, cash and grazing rights, Jack said it will look outside the tribes. Those funds would pay for cultural and environmental surveys aimed at assessing any harm the project might cause to bird populations, archaeological sites and other sensitive natural resources in the area. The current challenge, however, is to identify $10 million in collateral so the authority can tap into a $10 million loan guarantee approved by the U.S. The authority intends to issue municipal or power bonds to finance the purchase and installation of turbines. Lyle Jack, who represents the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the authority’s board, said the authority hopes to have the first turbines spinning within three years. The group formed a corporation, received $400,000 in grants from a couple of private foundations and has done some preliminary planning work. The tribes four years ago formed the Oceti Sakowin Power Authority, the entity that is pursuing the wind projects. We will probably start with a couple sites with a couple hundred megawatts each.” We’re recognizing that we’ll need to phase this in. Each of the reservations “can support a couple hundred megawatts, if not more. “The ultimate vision is to develop as much as 2 gigawatts, and potentially more,” said Caroline Herron, a consultant who’s been hired by the tribes to act as a project manager. Seven Sioux tribes in the Dakotas are developing what would be an enormous collection of wind farms on six reservations scattered across what is generally rated as one of the windiest areas in the country. While the Sioux nation has been in the spotlight almost daily for its opposition to construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, it has much more quietly been pursuing renewable energy development on the Standing Rock Reservation and other tribal lands across North and South Dakota.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |