Today the White House Council on Native American Affairs Energy Subgroup launched a new Federal Grant, Loan, and Technical Assistance Programs for Tribal Energy Development online tool that provides a centralized repository of federal funding and technical assistance programs that can support energy project development for Tribes and Alaska Native villages and corporations.

Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy, this Web-based resource is an efficient one-stop shop that enables Tribes and Alaska Native villages and corporations to easily identify and access information about federal grant, loan, and technical assistance programs that can help facilitate energy project development on Indian lands.

“Tribal leaders have identified access to information about federal programs as a key barrier in their efforts to fund energy project development,” said DOE Office of Indian Energy Acting Director Pilar Thomas. “The new online tool is designed to reduce this barrier and, as a result, generate more tribal applications for assistance from federal programs.”

Through the efforts of the Energy Subgroup, more than 10 federal agencies have collected and provided information about the major energy, energy infrastructure, economic development, and environmental programs and regulations that support energy development and deployment in Indian Country and Alaska Native villages.

The White House Council on Native American Affairs was established by President Obama in June 2013 to ensure that the federal government engages with Tribes in a more coordinated and effective manner to help promote and sustain more prosperous and resilient tribal communities.

At the White House Tribal Nations Conference in November 2013, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz committed to establishing and serving as co-chairs of an energy subgroup, which would support the Administration’s policy to make substantive progress in addressing critical energy and climate change issues in tribal communities. The White House Council on Native American Affairs Energy Subgroup works to identify areas where the federal agencies can collaborate to support tribal energy development efforts, including financial and technical assistance programs, workforce development, regulatory streamlining, federal procurement, and project support.