Earth Equity News

Indian Tribe Sees Bright Future in Solar Power. By Susan Montoya Bryan, AP, January 13, 2010. "The 3,000 members of the Jemez Pueblo are on the verge of building the nation's first utility-scale solar plant on tribal land, a project that could bring in millions of dollars... The 30-acre site where 14,850 solar panels will be set up has been selected... [has] a contract to sell outsiders the electricity produced by the four-megawatt operation... [for] enough electricity to power about 600 homes. The project -- which would cost about $22 million, financed through government grants, loans and tax credits -- could bring in around $25 million over the next 25 years. That could help the tribe improve its antiquated drinking water system and replace the lagoons it uses to treat wastewater... 'Not every tribe is a gaming tribe, but every tribe is an energy tribe,' says Roger Fragua, a Denver-based consultant who works with the Council of Energy Tribes."