NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY S PARTNERSHIPS WITH TRIBES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

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1 NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY S PARTNERSHIPS WITH TRIBES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT Ann Marie Chischilly Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals Ann-Marie.Chischilly@nau.edu Tom Acker Mechanical Engineering Tom.Acker@nau.edu Karin Wadsack Landsward Institute Karin.Wadsack@nau.edu Mehrdad Khatibi Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals Mehrdad.Khatibi@nau.edu ABSTRACT Native American tribes nationwide face dual challenges in economic and energy development. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 15% of U.S. power could be generated as renewable energy on Native American land. (NAU) is actively engaged in supporting tribally-driven Native American renewable energy development initiatives. For the last decade, NAU s Sustainable Energy Solutions Group and Center for American Indian Economic Development have worked with regional tribes on the development of business planning templates and workshops for building renewable energy small businesses focused on systems to power remote homes, schools, businesses and government buildings. In 2010, NAU s Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) supported by tribal leaders, began development of the Tribal Clean Energy Resource Center (TCERC), which recently received the endorsement of the National Congress of American Indians. The TCERC will respond to tribes requests and offer several services including: technical assistance with renewable energy project development, financing and business development, policy analysis, workforce development, internships and assistance with energy efficiency planning and implementation. Building on ITEP s successful 20 year model (which has offered professional development and technical services to tribes nationwide), TCERC will build energy champions throughout Indian Country by training the current audience (which includes the professional environmental staff) to be cognizant and educated on energy issues. These trainings will increase internal capacity to manage tribes sustainable energy futures. Recently, NAU (led by the Office of the Vice President for Research) and regional tribes developed the Four Corners Sustainable Futures initiative, focusing in large part on research and projects to accelerate the development of renewable energy businesses and installations in the region. A number of these projects are moving forward with technical and fundraising support from NAU. 1. INTRODUCTION Native American tribes nationwide face dual challenges in economic and energy development. The development of renewable energy sources and businesses can be a source of economic development and clean energy for Native American tribes. Renewable energy development necessarily creates local jobs and offers diversification to 1

2 economies that are dependent on one or two industries such as tourism or fossil fuel extraction. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 15-30% of U.S. power could be generated as renewable energy on Native American land 1. Currently, wind energy development has been undertaken by the Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota and the Campo band of Kumeyaay Indians in California, and several tribes in Arizona and New Mexico have solar energy projects under way in various stages of development. (NAU) is actively engaged in supporting tribally-driven Native American renewable energy development initiatives through a number of institutes and centers on campus, and through a long history of partnership with tribes in the Four Corners region and nationwide. NAU recently opened a Native American Cultural Center to focus its resources for students, partner tribes, and centers on campus. NAU has a very high percentage of Native American students and is home to a program in Applied Indigenous Studies. NAU serves as a resource in environmental and energy policy planning, technical training, business development, and renewable energy pre-development work for a large number of Native American tribes. Moreover, the university is actively working to support tribes in a transition to clean energy development through targeted investment from the Technology and Research Initiative Fund. 2. NAU CENTERS For a decade, NAU s Sustainable Energy Solutions Group and Center for American Indian Economic Development have worked with regional tribes on the development of business planning templates and workshops for building renewable energy small businesses focused on systems to power remote homes, schools, businesses and government buildings. The Sustainable Energy Solutions Group harnessed the work of faculty from the College of Business and the Engineering departments to work together on a number of initiative related to renewable energy development. In 2003, SES worked with regional tribes, at the direction of the Western Governors Association and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP), dealing with regional haze rules and related energy issues. The WRAP reports dealt with the development of renewable energy sources on Indian lands 2 and energy efficiency opportunities for tribes within the region 3. A primary recommendation of the WRAP reports was for the tribes in the WRAP region to produce complete energy plans. SES worked with tribes to develop an Energy Planning Template 4 for regional tribal governments to use. SES also developed a curriculum for conducting workshops with communities and tribal governments to assist with the development of energy plans. SES conducted a series of workshops with communities in the Four Corners region in the mid-2000s. An overview of the process is provided in one case study 5. Many tribes and communities in the region have begun the energy planning processes since these workshops. SES also developed business planning templates for tribal small businesses in different facets of the renewable energy development sector 6. These templates have been presented in the Four Corners region and have been used for the development of small businesses focusing on renewable energy system design and installation for residential and commercial use. At the same time in the mid-2000s, SES performed a study of the potential for rural electrification of off-grid homes on the Navajo Nation using renewable energy 7. This information has been used for fundraising and business development in the region. SES has a current focus on assisting regional tribal partners with renewable energy resource assessment. The SES Anemometer Loan Program has installed wind resource equipment on land owned by the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. Each of these wind assessments has led to predevelopment activity by the two tribes. The Center for American Indian Economic Development (CAIED) focuses on professional development and entrepreneurship opportunities for Native American students, professionals, and partners nationwide. CAIED is a unique information and resource center for Arizona's twenty- two tribal nations and communities. Services include technical assistance, business consulting and training, and educational workshops. CAIED provides a website with a database library offering current information on Arizona tribes, Indian economic development, and 2

3 general development issues. CAIED offers periodic trainings for tribal professionals on topics including entrepreneurship, business administration, proposal development and grant writing, and other skills that are essential to renewable energy project development and business development on tribal land. In addition, CAIED has worked with individual partner tribes to develop proposals or plans for renewable energy projects and businesses, and has directed inquiries from other tribal partners to the available resources at NAU s ITEP and SES group. NAU s Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) will be celebrating 20 years of offering environmental trainings to tribes nationally. ITEP s model of listening to tribes and developing curriculum and technical assistance based on their requests has made ITEP the preeminent tribal environmental training organization nationally. In 2009, ITEP was approached by several well-recognized national tribal leaders and several influential tribal energy leaders in the development of the Tribal Clean Energy Resource Center (TCERC). In 2010, TCERC received the endorsement of the National Congress of American Indians. TCERC is also endorsed by many organizations including: Department of Energy s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Wildlife Federation, National Tribal Environmental Council, Inter-Tribal Council on Utility Policy and the United Southern and Eastern Tribes to list a few. TCERC s mission is to foster the transition of Native American tribes and Alaska Native Villages from fossil fuel to clean and renewable energy through research and development of energy technologies. This mission is at the heart of what many tribes face today. Many tribes are highly dependent on fossil-fuel-based resources, yet their environmental concerns are driving them to reconsider how they harness these resources. The TCERC will assist tribes in creating a transition plan that will diversify their energy portfolio with sustainable energy. The TCERC will offer several services to tribes including; responding to tribes requests for technical assistance with sustainable energy project development, financing and business development, policy analysis, offering internships, building a workforce and offering energy efficiency planning and implementation. Building a sustainable energy tribal workforce is key to ITEP s mission. ITEP currently trains environmental professionals nation-wide and has that data base to draw from to continue to train professionals in sustainable energy issues. ITEP also has a robust Educational Outreach program that trains K-12 students and offers internships while they are in college. This program has already reached over 42,000 Native students and their teachers nationally. With NAU s commitment to becoming the leading University serving Native Americans, ITEP can help educate the current NAU population of over 1100 Native students. ITEP s goal is to build a strong tribal workforce from the very young to the current workforce. It is the long term training/educating at all levels that will create tribal champions and leaders in the sustainable energy sector. In 2011, NAU (led by the Office of the Vice President for Research) and regional tribes developed the Four Corners Sustainable Futures initiative, focusing in large part on research and projects to accelerate the development of renewable energy businesses and installations in the region. The initiative kicked off with a summit of nearly 200 leaders from regional tribes, government agencies, NAU, and energy and other economic development industries, meeting to discuss and develop projects to create jobs and a diversified economic portfolio for the region s tribes. Summit participants learned about a number of renewable energy projects in various phases of development on tribal land, and discussed ways to streamline the development process for tribes and for interested development partners. A number of these projects are moving forward with technical and fundraising support from NAU. 3. CURRENT INITIATIVES NAU maintains its Anemometer Loan Program through the SES group. This program has meteorological towers measuring the wind resource on Gray Mountain near Cameron, Arizona, and at the Big Boquillas Ranch north of Seligman. Both of these areas are land owned or controlled by the Navajo Nation. There are also meteorological towers on ranch land south of Winslow, Arizona, owned by the Hopi Tribe. NAU has worked with the Hopi Tribe renewable energy office in a number of research initiatives related to various aspects of wind energy development, from resource assessment to wildlife monitoring and impacts mitigation. 3

4 NAU is also home to the ArizonaWind for Schools project, which is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy. In collaboration with ITEP s Environmental Education Outreach Program, Wind for Schools is working with a number of Hopi and Navajo partner schools to raise funds for the installation of renewable energy systems on schools. Both NAU programs also perform direct education and teachers workshops in partnership with tribal schools across the region, and bring students and teachers to NAU for engineering science events and summer programs focused on energy education topics. ITEP is in the process of building focal areas and resources for TCERC, and is working with its wide network of partners to establish areas of expertise and to identify immediate needs for training and other technical assistance. ITEP is currently developing renewable energy-related collaborations with Yavapai-Apache Nation, Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation. 4. CONCLUSIONS The several NAU centers detailed above, the Four Corners Sustainable Futures project, and university leadership are collaborating on several initiatives to provide enhanced renewable energy development services and resources to our tribal partners nationwide. Whether these involve workshops, trainings, or simply providing efficient and effective resources to tribes who request university assistance, NAU is committed to improving processes and practices in support of our tribal partners. Ideas for future collaborations include enhanced services in proposal development, resource assessment and data analysis, financial planning, and technical training and research for a variety of renewable energy technologies. 4

5 1 Thomas, P.M., United State Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Policy presentation. Retrieved from unity/oie_thomas.pdf 2 Acker, T., Auberle, W., Duque, E. P. N., Jeffery, W., LaRoche, D., Masayesva, V., & Smith, D. H. (2003a). Generating electricity from renewable resources in Indian country: Recommendations to tribal leaders from the Western Regional Air Partnership. Retrieved from 3 Acker, T., Auberle, W., LaRoche, D., Eastwood, J., Ormond, A., Slack, R., & Smith, D. H. (2003c). Reducing energy consumption and improving air quality through energy efficiency in Indian Country: Recommendations to tribal leaders from the Western Regional Air Partnership. Retrieved from 4 Acker, T., Jones, C., & Smith, D. H. (2006). Energy planning for Indian nations within the WRAP: A field guide. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 30 (4). 5 Acker, T., Jones, C., & Smith, D. H. (2006). Energy planning for Indian nations within the WRAP: A field guide. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 30 (4). 6 Sustainable Energy Solutions website. Retrieved from 7 Bain, C., Ballentine, C., DeSouza, A., Majure, L., Smith, D. H., & Turek, J. (2006). Navajo electrification for sustainable development: The potential economic and social benefits. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 28 (2),