In this issue
		Energy Services Bulletin home page
		Recycling promotion highlights energy efficiency, local resources
		MHA Nation tackles wind development one step at a time
		ACORE committee provides renewable energy forum for utilities
		Schools, forests, taxpayers all win with Fuels for Schools
		Utilities join projects to promote energy-efficient homes
		SOLAR 2006 focuses on renewable energy's role in climate recovery
		Automated meter reading spreads through Western territory
		Nebraska utility, university partner on energy research center
		Western plans workshops to demystify power factor
		New Equipment Loan manager brings experience, plans to job
		Topics from the Power Line: Powering irrigation with renewable energy
		Energy shorts
		Technology spotlight: Pressure-independent valves - Do they save energy?
		Calendar of events

MHA Nation tackles wind development one step at a time

Terry and Nadine Fredericks assisted with the daily documentation of the Fort Berthold wind turbine construction. (Photo by Robert Gough)

If the dot.com boom of the '90s taught investors and entrepreneurs anything, it was "make haste slowly," which is how the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation is approaching wind development.

In February, the Three Affiliated Tribes commissioned their first 66-kW wind turbine on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Not only does the unit provide the Four Bears Casino with part of its electricity, it prepared the tribe for bigger ventures, said MHA Nation wind energy director Terry Fredericks. "This project helped us to develop relationships with the industry, learn about wind development issues and get the word out about the tribes' class 5 and 6 resources," he said. "The tribal council and Chairman Tex Hall deserve congratulations for getting the turbine up and running," Fredericks added.

Project evolves as tribe learns

The learning process began in 1999 when the MHA Nation received a matching grant from DOE's Tribal Energy Program to explore utility-scale wind development. The tribe began collecting wind data in 2000 and selected the site in the hills above the Four Bears village. Fredericks joined the project in 2003, when the tribe's environmental director who helped launch development left for another job.

The original plan called for installing a used, reconditioned 100-kW turbine. "We decided early on to go with a new 66-kW turbine because the reconditioned units sometimes have problems," Fredericks noted. "That allowed us to focus on other challenges."

The MHA Nation found a valuable resource for meeting those challenges in energy consultant Distributed Generation of Golden, Colo. "The company helped in securing the interconnection agreement and power purchasing contract with McKenzie Electric Power Cooperative," said Fredericks.

McKenzie Electric, one of the tribes' four power providers, runs the turbine's output through its transformer and buys the wholesale power at 2.5 cents per kilowatt. The tribe buys the electricity back at retail prices of 6.5 cents per kilowatt. NativeEnergy also buys green tags from the project. "Economics is always the hard part. That's where the development process usually slows down," Fredericks admitted. "We hope to see the equation improve."

Next step – intertribal collaboration

The tribe is optimistic enough about wind energy's future to participate in an 80-MW project being undertaken by the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy. The ICOUP plan calls for eight 10-MW wind farms to be built on the lands of 10 Upper Great Plains tribes.

A feasibility study to determine the best site on the Fort Berthold Reservation for a 30-MW or larger development, said Fredericks, who serves as ICOUP vice president. "We've also begun economic modeling to figure out the optimum size for the facility," he added. "You have to know the total local load to size it for distribution, work out the transmission issues for approved export of excess energy and work out the power purchase and interconnection agreements with electrical service providers. Then you can put a cost on construction, including the possibility of an EIS for the site development."

Funding, as always, is a concern for the ICOUP project. Fredericks said the group will look at every option, including Clean Renewable Energy Bonds. He hopes to see major construction begin within the next two years.

Training and job opportunities

Building a local workforce with wind expertise is another challenge to developing the resource on reservations – one that the MHA Nation and other tribes welcome. Fredericks has attended renewable energy training workshops for Native American tribes offered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Bureau of Land Management, DOE and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "The reservations have partnered with state and Federal agencies to sponsor a variety of renewable energy education," Fredericks said.

Fort Berthold Community College, the MHA tribal college, offers an associate of applied science degree in energy technology and a certificate for energy technology. Around 30 students enroll in those programs each semester.

Professional contacts made during the tribe's first project have translated into workforce development opportunities. Kandi Mossett, a tribal member working on a master's degree in environmental science, secured an internship with Distributed Generation. Fredericks is pleased, he said, because, "Somebody has to carry on as we grow."

The MHA Nation does not expect that growth to happen overnight, but the 66-kW turbine powering the Four Bears Casino shows what can be done with a little patience and tenacity. Hall commented, "We wanted to demonstrate as a nation we could get electricity from the wind. Now we can move on to the next phase."