Webinar Sponsors: EERE Tribal Energy Program, DOE Office of Indian Energy, Western Area Power Administration

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy, Tribal Energy Program, and Western Area Power Administration will present the next Tribal Renewable Energy Series webinar, Introduction to Facility- and Community-Scale Project Financing, on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mountain time.

Facility- and community-scale projects provide opportunities for Tribes to reduce electricity costs, lower carbon emissions, and move toward energy independence. The webinar will focus on the various forms of financing for smaller renewable energy projects that serve an individual facility or community, and will explore their relative advantages and disadvantages to tribal communities. Attendees will also learn about the importance of including cost-effective energy efficiency improvements in project design and how to calculate the life cycle cost of various options under consideration.

Speakers include Jason Coughlin, a project leader at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Bill Cornelius, who worked on the Oneida Tribe’s Seven Generations waste-to-energy project.

“To successfully implement a renewable energy project, it is important for tribal leaders and staff to understand project development costs and financing structure options,” said Coughlin, who will cover the procurement plan process and the steps Tribes need to take as they begin the financing phase of a renewable energy project. “For example, there are both clear advantages and challenges associated with direct ownership," he explained. "The impact on utility bills is greatest when a Tribe owns a project versus when it purchases electricity under a power purchase agreement. These are some of the considerations we’ll cover in the webinar."

Cornelius will discuss project financing from the tribal point of view, drawing from his experience with the Seven Generations project and sharing some of the key lessons learned.