On the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington, power outages can be a regular occurrence throughout the year, exacerbated by winter storms and summer heat waves. In a move to strengthen resiliency when it comes to power access, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is working with Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI) to build microgrids across the reservation.
“It’s kind of that first step towards energy sovereignty,” said Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.
Energy sovereignty is the right of Native Nations to produce, deliver and manage energy on their own lands.
“There is an opportunity for tribes to generate power for their own use, but also for economic development, and for more resiliency [and] sovereignty,” said Grant Timentwa, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the general manager of the Colville Tribal Utility Corporation.
Currently, the community faces an average of 6 days worth of power outages each year, although that number is sometimes significantly higher, according to Erickson.
When the power goes out, not only does it impact individual residences, but government buildings and other resources shut down as well.
During winter storms or summer heat waves, the tribe opens up the government shelter as a warming or cooling center. When the power is out, there is greater fear for weather related injuries.
The gas station also shuts down when the power goes out — and the next closest one is about 45 minutes away, according to Erickson.
“If [community members] don’t have generators, or even access to gas to fill those generators up to keep their freezer cold, then they’re losing meat,” Erickson said. “We’re a subsistence tribe. We harvest a lot of wild game. If the [power] goes out and they lose all that, it’s a huge waste and a huge cost to them too.”
The new microgrids will be built at the government center in Nespelem, the Paschal Sherman Indian School near Omak and in the Inchelium District. The goal is to expand both microgirds and energy production down the line to support local resiliences, according to Erickson.
The project timeline is still uncertain as the design is being finalized, according to David Heim, vice president and chief strategy officer at OATI.
“We’re designing that system in a way that day one, it would serve the primary [what] we call the backbone buildings, but there is the capability to expand out to the surrounding homes,” Heim said.
The government center will feature rooftop solar panels, battery energy storage, electric vehicle charging and microgrid controls, creating a hub for energy resiliency.
Funding for the microgrid infrastructure has come from both state and federal resources, such as funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Tribal Clean Energy grants.
In its most basic form, a microgrid has the ability to generate, store and distribute power, according to Heim. The microgrid in Colville will feature solar energy production, a battery to store the energy and a generator, with provisions to add other forms of energy generation and expansion in the future.
Future expansion could include developing microgirds for gaming operations and potential data centers which would support tribally-owned utility and telecom infrastructure, another step toward energy sovereignty.
“[We’re] creating that core infrastructure for more independence and not just backup and resiliency, but for opportunities to expand our infrastructure and renewables,” Timentwa said.
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