Details By Native News Online Staff U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) on Tuesday announced $72 million to help provide electricity to homes in several tribal communities. The funds come from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda from the Inflation Reduction Act. Across Indian Country, more than 16,000 Tribal homes and 54,000 residents lack electricity, with a majority of unelectrified homes located in the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. Tuesday’s announcement was for the first round of funding from the Office of Indian Affairs’ Tribal Electrification Program will provide financial and technical assistance to 21 Tribes to connect homes to transmission and distribution that is powered by clean energy; provide electricity to unelectrified tribal homes through zero-emissions energy systems; transition electrified tribal homes to zero-emissions energy systems; and support associated home repairs and retrofitting necessary to install the zero-emissions energy systems. The program will also support clean energy workforce development opportunities in Indian Country. Never miss Indian Country’s biggest stories and breaking news. Sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. “Every home deserves to have access to reliable, affordable electricity – and now, with historic investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we’re bringing much-needed resources to Indian Country to electrify homes with abundant clean energy sources,” Secretary Deb Haaland said. “As we implement this new and innovative program, we will continue to support tribal communities as they work to develop their electricity infrastructure and help meet our shared clean energy goals.” Secretary Haaland made the announcement during a visit to the Hopi Tribe in Arizona, which is receiving $4.2 million through these awards. The visit comes as Secretary Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland conclude a multi-day trip that included visits with the White Mountain Apache and the Pueblo of Zuni in New Mexico to highlight how historic resources from the President’s Investing in America agenda are supporting Indigenous communities. “Indian Country’s revitalization and future depends on Tribal households, schools and businesses having access to clean, reliable power,” said Assistant Secretary Newland. “The Tribal Electrification Program is important for providing Tribes a much-needed boost to their efforts of closing the access-to-electricity gap in their communities.” In 2000, the Energy Information Administration issued a report which estimated that 14 percent of households on Native American reservations had no access to electricity, which was 10 times higher than the national average. In 2022, the Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy issued a report citing that 16,805 total Tribal homes were unelectrified, with most being in the Southwest region and Alaska. By recognizing that each Tribe has its own energy- and electrification-related needs and implementation capacity, this program will meet the unique needs of individual Tribal communities. The Tribal Electrification Program also advances the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which was established by President Biden as part of his January 2021 Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad , and which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that have been marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution, including federally recognized Tribal Nations, which are recognized as Justice40 communities. The 2024 grant recipients are:
Tribe or Tribal Organization
State
Funding
Levelock Village
Alaska
$333,813
Kootznoowoo, Incorporated
Alaska
$500,000
Chickaloon Native Village
Alaska
$7,767,520
Tanana Chiefs Conference
Alaska
$9,922,060
San Carlos Apache Tribe
Arizona
$360,000
Hopi Utilities Corporation
Arizona
$4,200,000
Navajo Tribal Utility Authority
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah
$10,000,000
Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians, Colusa Rancheria
California
$250,000
Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians
California
$250,000
Yurok Tribe
California
$3,271,068
Guidiville Rancheria of California
California
$3,552,350
Shoshone Paiute Tribes
Idaho and Nevada
$525,000
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
Kansas
$305,000
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska
Kansas
$9,400,000
Bois Forte Band of Chippewa
Minnesota
$295,000
Prairie Island Indian Community
Minnesota
$500,000
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians
Minnesota
$600,000
Pueblo of Santa Ana
New Mexico
$14,500,000
Rosebud Sioux Tribe
South Dakota
$1,000,000
Quinault Indian Nation
Washington
$3,650,000
Eastern Shoshone Housing Authority
Wyoming
$1,000,000
Total
$72,181,811
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