Wayne Shammel/General Counsel for Cow Creek Tribe of Umpqua Indians:
Weíre not shareholders and investors, or random regional users of power; our identity
is tied to our place on the earth.
Debora Whitefoot/Yakama Nation Tribal Member: And water is a big thing, as Native Americans.
Margie Schaff/Partner Schaff & Clark-Deschene, LLC
The hydroelectric system benefited everyone,
Debora: Everyone needs electricity.
Margie: but it really had a negative impact on the
tribes, on their cultures and on their livelihoods.
Debora: Weíre getting back some of what was taken
away from us.
Roger Taylor/Tribal Program Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory:
Of the 565 tribes around the country, there are only a handful of tribal utilities.
Margie: I think itís so important for the tribes,
whether they form a utility or they donít form a utility to have the right and the opportunity
to do it.
Wayne: We ëcaní do this.
Deborah: This is part of everyoneís step to heal.
CELEBRATING TRIBAL UTILITIES: POWER TO LEAD
In 1998, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians and the Yakama Nation went to the Affiliated
Tribes of Northwest Indians with a dream that they could serve the electricity needs of
their peoples.
Both tribes signed power sales agreements with the Bonneville Power Administration in
2000 and became the agencyís first tribal utilities, which marked a turning point for
BPA and for the tribes.
COW CREEK BAND OF UMPQUA INDIANS UMPQUA INDIAN UTILITY COOPERATIVE
OCTOBER 2001
Ron Doan/ UIUC General Manager: It seems incredible that October of 2001 this
utility flipped its first switch.
Dan Courtney/Cow Creek Tribal Chairman: It was a significant moment when that actually
happened.
Wayne: Costs of electricity were so key to the tribeís
economic development function which is really right at the heart of where Cow Creek was
I would say 15 years ago.
Wayne: Tribes can form utilities and take themselves
rapidly into a hole doing it.
Margie: We did a good cost comparison and determined
that it was a cost effective thing to do.
Wayne: As long as we can aggregate the capital and
the knowledge
Margie: Because the tribe currently owned most of
the facilities necessary we only had to go out and buy a few facilities.
Wayne: Weíve since been able to take our utility
that was formed around getting the BPA power, and expand its role to telecommunications
and water and sewer and gas.
Brian Boswell, P.E., UIUC Operations Manager: When I started back in 2003 this wastewater
lagoon was the first part of the utility that was built.
Ron: This tribe has ownership of about six or seven
businessÖ one of course, obviously is the casino:
Boomer/General Manager, Seven Feathers Casino: Welcome to Seven Feathers Casino Resort.
First casino established in Oregon; for the last ten years we have not had a rate increase
in ten years.
Ron: Ö an RV resort, a truck and travel center,
a fairly significant broadband and telecommunications company:
Mark Bilton-Smith, President, RIO Networks: That will be the 5000 square foot high density
data center facility
Ron: The savings that weíve realized in terms
of power pricing has allowed this tribe the capability of moving the projects forward.
Wayne: So itís been a very powerful organizational
expansion for the tribe.
Ron: I think itís really just the beginning;
Margie: Itís gone by so fast.
Ron: Itís surprising that these ten years has
happened so quickly.
CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS OF THE YAKAMA INDIAN NATION
YAKAMA POWER MARCH, 2006
Ray Wiseman/General Manager, Yakama Power: Youíve had 80 years of electrical service
here on the reservation yet youíve never enjoyed any of the benefits of the employment
or having the ability to have lower rates, or direct control.
Deborah: Now Yakama Power is here, which is going to
benefit our children and their children.
Shirley Criqui/Yakama Nation Tribal Elder: Itís a change in our life as a Yakama Nation.
Jerry Martin/Lead Lineman, Yakama Power: I grew up on this reservation, grew up in
one of the very first housing projects this place ever had.
When I first heard about Yakama Power I was a saw filer for the tribe at one of the two
saw mills, uh, I was kind of old..
Haha for one, I believe I was forty or so when I started.
Coming back as a Native American linemanÖ thereís not that manyÖ anywhere.
Ray: I watch the crews put up power lines tear
down poles, replace infrastructure, and I think that two years ago, I didnít even have
this capability.
We didnít have a crew, and now we have an all native crew able to go out and do the
construction.
Deborah: Business is a competition.
Jerry: There are a couple of other utilities that
are on this reservation that are serving customers here.
Weíve been told that we didnít know what we were doing; we were going to get people
killed.
Lon: Iím very proud to live in the reservation.
These fields out here, the field behind me is drip irrigated asparagus.
One of my utilities wanted 20 grand to hook up and so Yakama Power hooked me up at no
charge, and theyíve done a great job.
Ray: We know that weíre having a big impact on the valley floor down here, so the guys
take it really seriously.
Athena Pebbles Sanchey/Executive Secretary for Yakama Tribal Council:
Theyíre a family, and knowing that the electricity always has to stay on; and theyíre always
there and ready to make sure it stays on for our community.
Shirley: Itís a great opportunity for the young people
of our nation to get involved in the electrical companies.
Lon: Some of the guys who work for Yakama Power
when they were kids used to work on our sweet corn packing line ñ now heís out there hooking
up a fiber optic cable you know!
Theyíre my neighbors.
Shirley: I understand that weíre going to be provided
online services through Yakama Power and Iím anxious for that.
Lon Inaba/Farmer, Yakama Power Customer: Iím happy to see competition to the utilities
that are used to having no competition.
Athena: Weíre ready for the growth and the challenges
along the way.
Ray: This new substation here served 86 homes.
So we are looking to expand to about 400 homes here in the next 12 ñ 16 months, and that
will be a 600 to 800 percent increase to where we were at.
Our goal is to get to 16 MW as fast as possible.
Shirley: Living in todayís world, you know, everything
is technology and moves so fast.
Changes happen over night.
Deborah: The people that came before us--our ancestors--took
care of us in certain ways, that we benefit today.
Jerry: They were fearless.
They were fearless; they did their jobs.
Shirley: Itís a sign that time doesnít stand still.
Deborah: Itís also going to provide stability for
future generations to come.
Ray: And thatís what sovereign control is all
about, the ability to serve yourself.
Shirley: Yes, thereís not anything that we canít
do.
CONFEDERATED SALSIH AND KOOTENAI TRIBES OF THE FLATHEAD RESERVATION
MISSION VALLEY POWER SINCE 1988
Ralph Goode/General Manager, Mission Valley Power:
3002 The tribeís a minority here; this was opened to homesteading in 1910.
Ralph: Weíve been successful at running the Mission
Valley Power since 1988.
Shawn: This is my tribe; this is where Iím from.
Ralph: Welcome to Mission Valley Power.
It is an agreement between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Confederated Salish Kootnai
Tribe on a 638 Contract.
Shawn: I just hope it keeps going.
Ralph The United States Government through the BIA
approves our budget, approves our rate changes.
Of our 83 employees we have about 66 that are tribal members.
Shawn: The jobís been great for my family.
The end of October will be the end of my 16th year.
Ralph: We have about 18,000 customers.
Most of the people thought that the tribes couldnít run this.
Shawn: If you wanna do it, just go do it, I mean
if you want something, go get it, itís yours.
Ralph: Iíve been told many times that our reliability
has really improved over the years.
Shawn: Thatís my hope: it always stays under tribal
control.
Donít let anybody throw your dreams away.
Ralph: The tribe has taken our success and shown
that when the tribe managed something, the difference it has made here.
Conclusion
Margie: The tribes have done a really good job being
full managers, with the addition of their culture and their understanding of the history
of these resources that dates way back.
Wayne: Every new generation of business people and
tribal leaders has to relearn all of this anyway; and I think thatís part of what this
project is about so that we can pass this down through time.
Roger Taylor/Tribal Program Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory::
The biggest hurdle is making the decision to say yes.
Wayne: This is right, and itís ok.
Ray: Look to the future and say this is what we
want, whether itís serving the entire reservation or just a small piece.
Lizana Pierce/Project Manager, Department of Energy Tribal Energy Program:
Whether it is reducing energy consumption through weatherization, developing their indigenous
renewable resources,
Roger: Or taking over somebody elseís grid.
Lizana: Energy enables economic development.
Roger: It also puts the tribes in lead.
Margie: Opening some of these doors have given these
tribes a new way of stepping in and being part of all the negotiations that are related
to the hydro electric system.
Wayne; Think about it: itís raw and physical, tied
to the rivers, so visceral and so important because of the fish and wildlife issues but
also enduring:
The tribe is going to be here for how long: forever.