Ute Mountain Ute Tribe – 2021 Project

Background

Located in the Four Corners area where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet, the UMUT spans 600,000 acres of harsh, isolated land across three states. The seat of tribal government is in the small, rural town of Towaoc, Colorado. There are two communities on the Reservation: Towaoc (Colorado) and White Mesa (Utah).

The long-term goal of this project is to support the Tribe's vision of reducing reliance on fossil fuels, while increasing its capacity for self-determination through the deployment of community-scale renewable energy systems. This vision was codified in a 2014 study that explored various renewable energy systems and their potential benefits for the Tribe, the community, and its residents. The UMUT Towaoc Housing Solar Initiative builds upon the success of the Tribe's construction of a 1-megawatt (MW) community-scale solar PV facility on tribally owned land in 2017, a project that also received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy.

Project Objectives

The overall goal of the Towaoc Housing Solar Initiative is to reduce the Tribe's dependence on outside energy sources, support UMUT tribal sovereignty, and realize energy cost savings for 20 homes and a Supportive Housing building managed by the UMUT Housing Authority. Installing solar on these key facilities in the community will: (1) decrease use of nonrenewable sources of electricity, (2) provide economic opportunity in the form of electricity savings, and (3) provide employment and job training for tribal members while aligning with the cultural values of the UMUT. This project will further the Tribe's goals of increasing solar PV in its energy portfolio as a clean, renewable source of electricity.

This project will also enable the Tribe to capture and utilize sufficient solar energy to meet more than 82% of the energy needs of the targeted 20 homes and Supportive Housing Building, dramatically reducing reliance on outside energy sources, and providing energy savings for five facilities in Towaoc. Aligned directly to UMUT's vision of reducing reliance on fossil fuels while increasing its capacity for self-determination through the deployment of community-scale, renewable energy systems, the project will lay a solid foundation for future energy independence.

Project Scope

This project will install a total of about 140 kW of direct current solar PV energy for the Supportive Housing Building and 20 homes in Towaoc, Colorado, managed by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Housing Authority. UMUT carefully analyzed the size of the system required for each facility and estimated the costs for construction, annual savings, and environmental benefits of solar system installation to power the tribal buildings.

The specific objectives of this project are to: (1) within 2 years of the project start, deploy solar PV systems on 20 homes managed by the UMUT Housing Authority, along with a Supportive Housing facility, all of which are in rural, isolated UMUT Reservation community of Towaoc; and (2) within 18 months of award notification, hire four construction interns to assist in deployment of the solar PV systems.

A major portion of the installation will be the hands-on installation training for approximately four UMUT construction interns, Public Works staff, and other community members. The UMUT will identify and recruit the construction interns and coordinate closely on all phases of project management.

Project Location

Located in the Four Corners area where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet, UMUT is a federally recognized Tribe spanning nearly 600,000 acres of harsh, isolated land, across three states. The seat of tribal government is the small, rural town of Towaoc, Colorado, which is just over 2 miles west of U.S. 160/491 and approximately 18 miles north of the New Mexico-Colorado border. There are two communities on the Reservation—Towaoc (Colorado) and White Mesa (Utah). Towaoc has a population of about 1,099 (2018 U.S. Census data with local supplemental data), and White Mesa has a population of about 242 (2018 U.S. Census data). This project will install solar PV systems on 20 homes in the rural, isolated UMUT Reservation community of Towaoc.