Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation – 2018 Project

NOTE: Project pages are being updated regularly to reflect changes, if any; however, some of the information may be dated.

Summary

This project will install approximately 113 kilowatts (kW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) to meet electric power needs at a tribally owned fish hatchery in Northern California. Once the system is installed, 75% to 80% of electrical energy use will be replaced with solar energy, and an equivalent portion of the total $36,000 in annual electricity costs eliminated.

The Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (TDN) is the 10th largest Tribal Nation within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Pacific Region, with a total population of 1,720 enrolled citizens. Reservation lands are located along the Pacific coastline, 3 miles south of the Oregon-California border. The TDN's federally recognized jurisdiction and service area encompasses 9,608 square miles and includes Humboldt and Del Norte counties in California and Coos, Curry, and Josephine counties in Oregon. The tribal governmental seat is located at Smith River, California, nearly 7 hours north of San Francisco.

With technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy in 2016, TDN developed a strategic energy plan. From the TDN's Strategic Energy Plan (2017), "The Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation commits to continuing its tradition of environmental stewardship by incorporating renewable energy power sources and green building practices into current and potential development through environmentally friendly energy planning and policy." In addition, in the Nation’s draft Strategic Plan (2018) includes the objective to “explore and implement green/sustainability measures where feasible and culturally appropriate.”

This project is the first renewable solar energy generation project for the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation. It represents initial implementation of the TDN's Strategic Energy Plan completed in 2017 and the 2018 draft Strategic Plan for the TDN government.

The goal of this project is to establish a 113.4-kW solar energy system at the Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery (RCFH). With the abundance of sunny days and relatively mild climate, the new energy system is predicted to be efficient and sustainable in long-term generation of energy, resulting in a 75% to 80% reduction of electric power needed for the RCFH’s year-round operations. The system will also provide a positive cash flow in the form of considerable cost savings on annual utility operating expenses. Savings are estimated at $27,000 for the first year (75% of current annual costs of $36,000), increasing to a projected $40,000 per year by year 15.

As the Tribe moves forward with exploration of further renewable energy development in the next few years for its commercial operations such as its hotel, casino, service station, and RV park, and for a new 21-home housing community project to be launched within a year, the success of this project as a reachable model of solar energy will serve to educate and inspire, leading to increased interest in green building and further renewable energy generation projects.

This project ensures permanent sustainability for the hatchery due to immediate operational costs savings after the system is installed. Electrical costs are approximately 20% of the total operational budget for the RCFH, which survives on charitable donations, grants, and tribal funding. The project helps meet RCFH goals of environmental stewardship and conservation and the upstream return of Chinook and steelhead, reflecting values that are deeply meaningful to TDN citizens and their efforts to ensure cultural preservation and a sound regional ecosystem.

Twenty panels will be mounted on the roof of the RCFH building, and 304 will be ground-mounted. The 304 ground-mounted panels will be on seven different ground-mounted solar arrays. The ground-mounted systems will require grading and landscaping of selected areas around the hatchery (will require engineering and soil testing). An Ironridge racking system will be used to mount the panels on both the roof and the ground. On the ground-mounted system, there will be trenching between the solar arrays. The building to be used for solar panels was built in 1999. It is 4,200 square feet with one completely south-facing side where the panels will be installed.

The Tribe will contract out the equipment purchase, installation, and training for system monitoring.

Reservation lands are located along the Pacific coastline, 3 miles south of the Oregon-California border. The project will take place at the Rowdy Creek Fish Hatchery, located in the community of Smith River at the confluence of Rowdy and Dominie creeks, just 1.5 miles upstream from the Smith River itself. The RCFH property consists of two parcels totaling approximately 3.6 acres.

The project is complete. For details, see the final report.

The project was competitively selected under the Office of Indian Energy Fiscal Year 2018 funding opportunity announcement "Energy Infrastructure Deployment on Tribal Lands - 2018" (DE-FOA-0001847) and started in October 2018.

The December 2018, December 2020, and November 2021 project status reports provide more information.