Forest County Potawatomi Community – 2019 Solar Photovoltaic Project

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

Summary

Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCPC) will install and operate 1 megawatt (MW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems at eight tribal facilities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and on the Tribe's Forest County Reservation lands. The Tribe estimates that the project will offset 1.34 megawatt-hours (MWh) of grid elericity per year, the equivalent of 945 metric tons of CO₂ emisson reduction.

The eight installations will range in size from 8 kilowatts (kW) to 280 kW, displace between 4.2% and 99.9% of total current energy use for each of the eight buildings, and save $105,996 annually.

FCPC descends from the original inhabitants of Southeastern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois around the shores of Lake Michigan. It ceded territory through a series of treaties and, rather than marching west, a number of Potawatomi fled to Wisconsin’s North Woods, eventually becoming the FCPC. The Tribe’s membership, consisting of more than 1,600 members, is its most important asset. Notably, the majority of the tribal members reside on the Tribe’s Forest County Reservation lands in the communities of Stone Lake, Carter, and Blackwell in rural northern Wisconsin.

Over the past decade, FCPC has successfully undertaken several energy-focused projects, exemplifying the Tribe’s commitment to environmental ethics and its long-term goal of becoming energy independent, using renewable, carbon-free and carbon-neutral energy whenever and wherever it is economically feasible. This project models the Tribe’s 2014 and 2017 DOE-funded solar PV projects. Specifically, the Tribe seeks to install solar PV on eight essential tribal buildings serving a variety of purposes. All of these tribally owned facilities are on tribal lands in Milwaukee, Carter (Wabeno), Blackwell, or Crandon, Wisconsin.

With this community-wide approach, the Tribe anticipates substantial energy offset, ranging from 4.2% to 99.9% grid electricity reduction at the selected sites. This outcome would greatly support the Tribe’s overall energy mission of achieving 100% carbon neutrality, solidify the Tribe as a leader in Indian energy deployment, and provide much-needed capital for ongoing projects and community needs.

This project is very important to the Tribe for several reasons. First, with the sun-setting of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), this is the Tribe’s last opportunity to take advantage of a unique financial structure that would provide much-needed capital. Second, the Tribe has obligated significant financial resources to a new wastewater treatment facility, an aquaponics facility, a community center, and the construction of a new Carter church. These projects serve highly important needs for tribal membership, and without grant funds and ITCs, the Tribe’s ability to implement energy projects is limited. Finally, the project will offset significant grid energy for both new and existing facilities, thereby assisting the Tribe with its goal of carbon neutrality through renewable generation.

FCPC has four objectives for this project: first, to install over 1 MW of solar PV at identified tribal locations, thereby reducing reliance on traditional fossil fuels; second, to increase the Tribe’s renewable generation capacity with equipment and a project model that has been previously employed by the Tribe, has low operation costs and maintenance requirements, and is a proven and reliable technology; third, to use a technology that provides renewable solar resource during peak demand hours; and fourth, to support economic feasibility by allowing for a payback of capital costs based on energy savings achieved over time. With this community-wide approach, FCPC anticipates substantial energy offset, ranging from 4.2% to 99.9% electricity reduction at the eight selected sites.

The Tribe will install multiple solar PV systems on a predetermined selection of government and enterprise buildings on tribal land. Using standard system components of solar modules, inverters, and racking structures, each building will be equipped with an appropriately sized solar PV system. The Carter wastewater treatment facility, the Stone Lake church, and the Carter church will use roof-mounted panels with flush-mount racking. FCPC’s Potawatomi Bingo Casino, the Potawatomi Carter Casino Hotel, and the aquaponics facility will use fixed-tilt, roof-mounted panels, while the Wgema Campus will use fixed-tilt, ground-mount racking. The FCPC Renewable Generation Facility will use a floating array.

In Wisconsin, standardized interconnection agreements have been approved by the Public Service Commission. The net-metering cap of Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) and WE Energies is 20 kW. Some systems in the proposed project are expected to be greater than 20 kW, so the Tribe will work with WPS and WE Energies to ensure that all interconnection and metering are appropriate and meet standard requirements. Ultimately, the Tribe’s goal is to use all energy produced at their sites, rather than selling back to the utility. The smaller installations at the Stone Lake and Carter churches are expected to offset almost 100% of the facilities’ use based on the net-metering capabilities.

FCPC will install and operate 1,068 kW of solar PV energy systems at eight Tribal facilities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and on the Tribe's Forest County Reservation lands in rural northern Wisconsin. All of these tribally owned facilities are on tribal lands in Milwaukee, Carter (Wabeno), Blackwell, or Crandon, Wisconsin. Three of the buildings being proposed are new construction: the Carter Wastewater Treatment Facility, the Carter Community Church, and the Aquaponics Facility.

The project was competitively selected under the Office of Indian Energy's Fiscal Year 2019 funding opportunity announcement “Energy Infrastructure Deployment on Tribal Lands - 2019” (DE-FOA-0002032) and started in October 2019.

The project status reports provide more information.