November 21, 2024

The Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) published the Viejas Microgrid Community Benefits Plan (CBP), the first Tribal loan guarantee project to have reached financial completion, setting the initial best practices in the Tribal energy development sector. This CBP for the Viejas Microgrid protect includes a $72.8 million partial loan guarantee to finance the development of a solar-plus long-duration energy storage microgrid on the Tribal lands of the Viejas Band of the Kumeyaay Indians near Alpine, California.

The Viejas Microgrid project will provide the Viejas Band with reliable utility-scale renewable energy generation and storage infrastructure through the installation of a 15 MW photovoltaic solar generation system and a 70 MWh battery long-duration energy storage system. The Viejas Band will purchase electricity through a subsidiary in a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) to help operate various commercial businesses including gaming, hospitality, and retail facilities. The Viejas Microgrid will help lower the Tribe’s cost of energy, allowing savings to be redirected toward investments by the Tribal Nation in infrastructure maintenance, operation of the fire department, Tribal culture and educational programs, and other Tribal citizen services. This project highlights the opportunities for non-Tribal energy developers to negotiate similar partnerships with Tribal Nations that are impacted by energy development.

For more information, please contact Leigh Mitchell, USET SPF Senior Policy Analyst, at lmitchell@usetinc.org.

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Established in 1969, the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. (USET) is a non-profit, inter-Tribal organization serving thirty-three (33) federally recognized Tribal Nations from the Northeastern Woodlands to the Everglades and across the Gulf of Mexico. USET is dedicated to enhancing the development of Tribal Nations, improving the capabilities of Tribal governments, and improving the quality of life for Indian people through a variety of technical and supportive programmatic services.

Established in 2014, the USET Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET SPF) is a non-profit, inter-Tribal organization advocating on behalf of thirty-three (33) federally recognized Tribal Nations from the Northeastern Woodlands to the Everglades and across the Gulf of Mexico. USET SPF is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and advancing the inherent sovereign rights and authorities of Tribal Nations and in assisting its membership in dealing effectively with public policy issues.