Spread over a vast area of the Upper Great Lakes, members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians live mainly in the seven easternmost counties of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Overall, they have nine housing sites, five casinos, and seven health centers.
Challenge: Even though the Tribe is scattered geographically, members share a long-standing interest in energy efficiency and renewable energy options. However, by statute, all proceeds of tribal enterprises are returned to members in the form of services, such as health care and food security. Getting tribal buy-in for new conservation measures has been a challenge. Without dedicated staff for energy efficiency initiatives, the Tribe lacked data to build the economic case for such efforts.
Solution: The Tribe targeted various federal grant programs for strategic energy development and efficiency efforts and channeled utility energy rebates into additional work.
A tribal member practices setting up and operating a blower door during an energy audit training at the tribal sports arena, Chi-Mukwa. Photo from Kathie Brosemer, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, NREL 32756
In 2002, the Tribe received a DOE grant to conduct a feasibility study on wind energy to power tribal facilities, and seven years later it won two more grants to conduct energy audits and address energy inefficiency in tribal government buildings.
To solidify its stance, the Tribe also drafted an energy strategy calling for a long-term goal of net-zero energy, a bold move that reflected its vision, provided a framework for moving forward with clean energy efforts, and helped align the diverse self-sufficiency efforts within the tribal government.
The White House highlighted this coordinated effort on December 3, 2014, when it selected the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe as a Climate Action Champion, citing its “holistic approach to climate action and preparedness through its energy strategy, emergency operations plan, integrated resource management plan, solid waste management plan, sustainable development code, and land use planning process.” Through ongoing efforts to achieve its ambitious clean energy goals, the Tribe aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4% annually.
Benefits:
- Completed energy audits on 38 tribal governmental buildings and 25 homes after purchasing two blower systems and four infrared cameras
- Retrofitted the lighting in 21 governmental buildings, advancing the greenhouse gas reduction goal
- Provided building energy audit training to tribal members, supporting the tribal goal of self-reliance
- Through the audits, established a basis for long-term energy priorities and a benchmark for measuring improvements.
Our energy strategy was quite bold. Most communities would shy away from [a goal of net-zero energy] because it seems unfeasible. But this is long-term thinking, and as they say, ‘Shoot for the moon —even if you miss, you’ll wind up in the stars.