American Indian Culture and Research Journal

INTRODUCTION Energy in the form of electricity is a hot topic among tribes within the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP). For too many people, energy is too expensive, not reliable, or even nonexistent. For many tribal members, up to 20 or 30 percent of income is spent on energy, which is unbelievably high compared to nontribal people in the same area. Many houses and buildings within Indian nations connected to the existing electrical power grid are at the end of these lines and far away from the power source. As a result, any interruptions throughout the line will disrupt power to these houses and buildings. Thousands more homes and buildings are not connected to the existing grid and have no electricity. Creating energy plans specific to the needs of the tribal members will help bridge the gap between the current energy situation and the energy system tribes envision. The initial critical step in establishing an energy plan is to have a complete and specific energy destination in mind. A stock of what is currently possessed needs to be determined in order to understand the resources needed to reach the destination. This destination must meet the common needs of members of the tribe and should go hand-in-hand with other tribal objectives, such as economic development, creation of jobs, and cultural values. It is necessary to define the baseline electrical energy profile for the tribe. This profile should include inventory of total current, expected, and peak load electricity use expressed in megawatts (MW) and megawatt hours (MWh). An inventory of renewable energy electricity-generation capacity and production needs to be determined. Also, the percentage of total electricity-generation capacity and production due to renewable energy needs to be established. This article provides an overview of the process for developing a tribal energy plan. The process includes the following steps: development of a tribal energy vision, energy efficiency (EE) programs, renewable energy resource development, electrification programs, and energy plan implementation. Working with the Hualapai tribe in Arizona, the workshop curriculum was presented and led to instantaneous EE projects. Tribes should begin the process of energy planning for economic development (cost savings, revenue generation, job creation, and profit creation), energy independence, cultural integrity, and to increase tribal sovereignty.