The Eastern Shoshone Housing Authority is slated to receive $7.375 million from the Inflation Reduction Act as part of a federal push to electrify homes in Tribal communities and close the Tribal access-to-electricity gap, according to a recent press release from the Department of the Interior.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs interactive map for projects in Tribal communities funded through the Investing in America agenda indicates that the ESHA project will encompass three distinct initiatives: the development of two microgrids and the implementation of several stand-alone systems.
“A feasibility study will be conducted to maximize the effectiveness and sustainability of these initiatives,” the description states. “This will assess the practicality and potential benefits of adopting community-based, localized energy solutions. Given the strategic importance and anticipated impact of these projects, allocating partial funding to the ESHA is both prudent and beneficial, ensuring a positive community impact.”
Tribal Electrification Program
The ESHA award is part of a $71 million investment that the DOI called “a critical step toward the goal of electrifying all homes in the United States with clean energy sources.”
“This second and final round of funding from the BIA’s Tribal Electrification Program is part of an overall $150 million commitment to provide financial and technical assistance to connect homes in Tribal communities to transmission and distribution that is powered by clean energy; provide electricity to unelectrified homes through zero-emissions energy systems; transition electrified homes to zero-emissions energy systems; and support associated home repairs and retrofitting necessary to install the zero-emissions energy systems,” the press release states. “In addition, the program supports clean energy workforce development opportunities in Indian Country.”
In 2000, the Energy Information Administration 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 Tribal homes were unelectrified, with most being in the Southwest region and Alaska.
“Every family deserves to have access to reliable, affordable electricity,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said. “Now, with historic investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we’re honoring our commitment to deliver clean energy to Indian Country to electrify more homes. This new program is building reliable, resilient energy that Tribes and communities can rely on, and advancing our work to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean energy future.”
The DOI says the Tribal Electrification Program advances the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 initiative, which sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution, including federally recognized Tribal Nations.
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