A new philanthropic fund has launched to help tribes pay for clean energy projects. The investment fund could help tribes unlock tens of millions in federal money.
In the past few years, there’s been historic funding for communities to develop solar, wind or geothermal power.
But, according to Chéri Smith with the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, Indigenous peoples often don’t have the money to pay for those projects’ upfront costs, like feasibility studies and permits.
“It's kind of like the feds say, ‘Hey, tribes, here's some money, go eat at this amazing restaurant. Here's the menu. Here's 75 and everything on that menu is a hundred dollars or more,’” said Smith.
Now, her organization and other donors are trying to fill that gap with the Indigenous Power & Light Fund for Energy Sovereignty.
Smith said there’s huge potential for green energy development on tribal lands in the Mountain West.
“But despite this potential, many of the tribes really are still reliant on external power sources and are subject to the discriminatory high costs of that power and the unreliability of that power,” said Smith, who descends through both of her parents from the Mi’kmaq of Northern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes.
According to the Department of Energy, as of 2022, almost 17,000 tribal homes didn’t have access to electricity, with most of them in the Southwest or Alaska.
With this funding, Smith hopes tribes will be able to develop their own reliable sources of power and create jobs in their communities.
About a third of the targeted $100 million has been pledged so far by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Lemelson Foundation and others.
Smith hopes to open up applications to tribes in the next couple months, and give approvals within 30 days.
Ultimately, she said this funding is all about enhancing sovereignty for tribes and redistributing wealth.
“This is reparations,” Smith said. “This is retribution. This is what's right. And, you know, this is only scratching the surface.”
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
