**Energy Department Awards Spur Development of Tribes\' Renewable Energy
Resources**

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today that the Department
of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is
making \$2.2 million available to seven Native American tribes to
support the development of renewable energy resources on tribal lands.

\"Native American tribal lands offer promising opportunities for
renewable energy growth in this country,\" Secretary Abraham said, \"and
reliable, affordable energy supplies are critical to tribal
self-sufficiency. With these awards, the Department of Energy is helping
accomplish two very important goals: supporting economic development
among Native Americans while helping our nation enhance its energy
security.\"

Among those receiving awards are the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the
Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana. The tribes\' unemployment rate
stands at 76 percent, and the reservation\'s high electric rates play a
significant role in inhibiting economic development. By developing their
wind resources, the tribes hope to increase opportunities for employment
and education.

Under this cost-shared development project, the tribe will buy, install
and operate a 660-kilowatt wind turbine. The estimated 2,000,000
kilowatts of power generated by the turbine will be distributed between
the Tribal Building, Fort Peck Community College, and Assiniboine &
Sioux Tribal Industries.

The resulting \$134,000 in annual savings from reduced electricity bills
will help establish a Senior Citizens Kitchen to feed 65-85 elders a day
and finance an educational training and certification program.
Electricity sales from the project will help maintain the turbine,
improve existing electricity infrastructure, and upgrade the energy
efficiency of tribal buildings.

Other projects to receive DOE funding include:

-   **Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Rosebud, S.D.)** \-- The Rosebud Sioux Tribe
    will begin development of a 30-megawatt wind energy project. The
    tribe will sell the electricity to provide economic benefits to the
    Tribe and create jobs for tribal members.

-   **Northern Cheyenne Tribe (Lame Deer, Mont**.) \-- The Northern
    Cheyenne Tribe will conduct pre-construction activities for a
    30-megawatt wind facility. Activities will include permitting, avian
    and cultural assessments, and transmission and interconnection
    studies needed to obtain financing and power purchase agreements.

-   **Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government (Northeast Alaska)**
    \-- The villages of Venetie and Arctic, located about the Arctic
    Circle in northeast Alaska, will study they feasibility of powering
    an entire village using solar energy. Solar power would replace
    diesel generation for most of the summertime, yielding economic,
    environmental and social benefits for the tribe.

-   **Makah Indian Nation (Neah Bay, Wash.)** \-- The Makah Nation,
    located on the northwestern trip of the Olympic Peninsula, will
    complete the pre-development tasks for a 30-megawatt wind project
    and associated infrastructure.

-   **Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians (Red Lake, Minn.)** \-- The Red
    Lake Band of Chippewa Indians will assess the potential to expand
    the use of biomass resources for energy autonomy and economic
    development on tribal lands. The tribe will evaluate the technical,
    market, financial and cultural aspects of using tribal forest lands
    to create a sustainable bioproducts-based business.

-   **Fort Mojave Tribe (Mohave Valley, Ariz.)** \-- The Fort Mojave
    Tribe needs more energy supplies to support continued growth in
    several successful economic development projects the tribe undertook
    in the last decade. The tribe will investigate the feasibility and
    desirability of producing power from renewable energy sources.

**Renewable Energy Development on Tribal Lands**

  ------------- ---------------- ------------- -------------- ------------ -----------
  **Project     **Technology**   **Applicant   **Project      **Proposed   **Cost
  Type**                         Name**        Title**        DOE          Share**
                                                              Funds\***    

  Development   Wind             Rosebud Sioux Wind Energy    \$456,594    \$115,750
                                 Tribe         Development of              
                                               Tribal Lands                

  Development   Wind Facility    Northern      Wind Energy    \$515,200    \$128,800
                                 Cheyenne      Development of              
                                 Tribe, Inc.   Tribal Lands                

  Development   Wind Turbine     Assiniboine & Renewable      \$342,602    \$724,907
                                 Sioux Tribes  Energy                      
                                 of the Fort   Development of              
                                 Peck          Tribal Lands                
                                 Reservation                               

  Feasibility   Solar            Native        A Feasibility  \$199,654    \$41,480
                                 Village of    Study:                      
                                 Venetie       Powering                    
                                 Tribal        Remote                      
                                 Government    Northern                    
                                               Villages with               
                                               the Midnight                
                                               Sun                         
  ------------- ---------------- ------------- -------------- ------------ -----------

  ------------- ------------ ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------
  Feasibility   Wind         The Makah   Next Steps to  \$270,075         \$0
                             Indian      Implement the                    
                             Nation      30 MW Wind                       
                                         Power Pilot                      
                                         Project on the                   
                                         Makah Indian                     
                                         Nation for the                   
                                         Pacific North                    
                                         West Region                      

  Feasibility   Biomass      Red Lake    Red Lake       \$195,976         \$0
                             Band of     Reservation                      
                             Chippewa    Biomass                          
                             Indians     Feasibility                      
                                         Study                            

  Feasibility   Wind,        Fort Mojave Renewable      \$199,416         \$104,000
                Biomass,     Tribe       Energy                           
                Solar                    Development on                   
                                         Fort Mojave                      
                                         Reservation                      
                                         Feasibility                      
                                         Study                            

  **TOTAL**                                             **\$2,179,517**   **\$1,114,937**
  ------------- ------------ ----------- -------------- ----------------- -----------------

\* Funding subject to negotiations.

News Media Contact:

Tom Welch, DOE-HQ, 202-586-5806

John Horst, DOE Golden Field Office, 303-275-4709