Santo Domingo Tribe – 2015 Project

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

Summary

This project’s objective is to design a photovoltaic (PV) system for the Santo Domingo Tribe (Tribe) community water pump and treatment (WPT) facility to offset the maximum amount of electricity extracted from the power grid while taking maximum advantage of net-metering and renewable energy certificate (REC) programs offered by Public Service of New Mexico (PNM). The PV project will provide power to the WPT facility that supports the water pumps and treatment equipment which provide potable water to the entire Tribe. The Tribe owns the WPT facility which is operated by the Santo Domingo Tribal Utility Authority. Based on feasibility studies the Tribe has conducted, the planned PV power system is estimated to have a nameplate capacity of 115 kilowatts (kW) DC. The project will include the design, installation, and verification of the PV system.

The Tribe, formerly known as the Kewa Pueblo, is a federally recognized Tribe with a Reservation located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is the fifth-largest Tribe of the 19 New Mexico pueblos and has approximately 5,027 tribal members and residents.

Generally considered the most conservative among the pueblos in terms of customs and culture, the Tribe has closely observed its traditional values and has not pursued the operation of a casino for income and jobs. The primary tribal business is the Kewa gas station and sand and gravel leases, both of which provide very modest returns. In 2012, 45% of the Tribe’s community lived below the government’s poverty level, and unemployment was at 41%.

Although the Tribe is economically disadvantaged, it is rich in natural resources, particularly sunlight. Consistent with the Tribe’s traditions and its connection to the land and environment, which are held sacred, it is receptive to renewable energy resources as a means to generate income for its membership and also to control government electricity costs. The Tribe has more than 800 acres of tribal trust lands rich with solar energy potential and ready access to regional energy markets. Major power lines are on and adjacent to tribal lands, with more planned based on a right-of-way that the Tribe negotiated with the power utility PNM.

The Tribe had an interest in exploring alternative energy production as the keystone for economic development. Thus, the Tribe sought and won a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a comprehensive tribal energy plan, which was created under this grant in 2012. As a part of this grant, the Tribe also engaged in leadership and staff education on alternative energy prospects, commercial-scale tribal energy production facilities, and steps and considerations in the creation of a tribal utility. This led to the Tribe’s long-term plan to create a tribal utility and commercial-scale PV energy production for economic development.

The Tribe’s Comprehensive Energy Plan outlines a course of action to lower electricity costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and achieve economic development through alternative energy projects at facility and commercial scales. Taking next steps toward these goals has been a challenge because of the Tribe’s limited financial resources. In the face of severe financial constraints, the Tribe has frugally conducted activities that help identify how it can generate income and reduce costs with alternative energy production and the implementation of energy efficiency measures.

With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a feasibility study of alternative energy projects for the Tribe. This study led to the investigation of the feasibility of providing PV power to government buildings on an industrial rooftop and providing industrial power generated at a landfill and utility-scale power generation (NREL 2013). In addition to studying PV power generation, the Tribe has investigated opportunities to reduce tribal costs by decreasing electricity consumption. It conducted energy audits of residential homes and evaluated greening of the tribal gas station and restaurant.

The objective of this project is to capitalize on the Tribe’s solar resources and design and install a PV power system for the community WPT facility to reduce about 77% of the Santo Domingo Tribe’s annual fossil fuel electricity consumption and substantially reduce tribal electricity costs.

The WPT facility provides potable water to the Santo Domingo Pueblo community of approximately 5,027 tribal members and residents. The PV power system planned for the community WPT facility will be connected to the PNM electrical grid. It will be designed to maximize the financial “income” from the PNM net-metering and REC programs. The PV system for the WPT facility is expected to be a 115-kW DC PV power system, providing between 75% and 85% of the power needed each month to operate the community WPT facility, with 79% annual electricity displacement of existing energy sources. The PV system is expected to produce electricity for at least 25 years.

Over the life of the project, the WTP PV system is expected to save the Tribe approximately $20,000 per year in electricity costs. It is expected to lower the average cost of electricity from the current $0.126 kilowatt-hour (kWh) to a levelized cost of $0.0713/kWh. The payoff period for the system will be six years, assuming a 50% grant cost-share from DOE.

The Tribe is currently working with a consultant who will assist in the management of this project. The consultant will assist the Tribe in competitive procurement of an appropriate PV design and installation contractor, project management, financial accounting and management, and coordination with DOE.

The project location will be on the Santo Domingo Tribe’s Reservation, located between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico. When Don Juan de Oñate visited Santo Domingo in 1598, the Pueblo was on the north bank of the Galisteo Creek, a few miles east of the present village. Galisteo floodwaters washed this village away shortly after this, and the survivors established a new Pueblo on the Rio Grande. Flood waters struck Santo Domingo in 1692 and again in 1886, washing away much of the Pueblo each time. Most of the present Pueblo and the present mission church were built after the disastrous flood of 1886.

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

The project was competitively selected under the DOE Office of Indian Energy Tribal Energy Deployment Program's fiscal year 2015 funding opportunity announcement “Deployment of Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects on Indian Lands” (DE-FOA-0001021) and started in July 2015.

The March 2015, December 2016, November 2017, and December 2018 project status reports provide more information.