HONORING THE FOUR WINDS

The wind industry's business people appreciate wind's many values, from its importance as a domestic energy that breaks dependence on imported sources to its vital role in the fight against global climate change.

The Native American peoples on South Dakota’s plains bring a more spiritual appreciation to the wealth of the North, South, East and West winds.

Ken Haukaas, tribal official, Rosebud Sioux: “We’re broke here…We’re poor…[But] the wind is free. There’s energy here all the time…the same thing that brought the buffalo brings the wind…The buffalo were a gift…The wind is a gift.”

Driven by state Renewable Electricity Standards (RESs) requiring utilities to obtain a portion of their power from New Energy sources by a date certain and a federal production tax credit, the wind industry is expanding so fast turbines are hard to get. As Boone Pickens constantly reminds, the Midwest could be “the Saudi Arabia of wind.”

Native American leaders and federal officials hope the gift of wind will reshape tribal economies and balance dependence on casinos.

Development has been a slow, painful and pristine example of New Energy creating new alliances across the boundaries of pre-existing prejudices and hostilities. In South Dakota, wind energy is somehow building a bond between long-abused Native peoples and non-native wind developers despite entrenched distrust.

This is not the result of mystical magic from smoking pipes and vision questing. It is the slow working out of converging mutual interests to overcome divergent self-interests.

Tribal leaders have undeveloped lands with rich wind assets but no knowledge or experience in developing them. Non-Indian business executives have access to financing and technical expertise in installation, transmission and energy markets. For both, it is work together or go without wind energy.

History of a wind installation almost gone wrong: After 5 years of haggling and planning, the Rosebud Sioux and Dale Osborn, president of Distributed Generation Systems Inc., had a deal on the 30-megawatt Owl Feather War Bonnet wind farm. Then there was a tribal election. The new council didn’t like the deal. Tribal tax authorities suddenly decided tribal sovereignty was at risk if a $1.17 million employment tax, the maximum possible, was not paid. Up front.

Osborn was outraged: “I am frustrated beyond belief…”

Financing a big wind project is hard. Adding $1 million+ to up front costs is a potential deal breaker. He agreed – IF the tribe would lower its royalty payments.

Some council members were suspicious.

Leonard Wright, one of 20 council members: “The people for these companies come and wave a couple of dollars in front of us, and we fall for it…”

Robert D. Moore, council member: “He questions our mentality. I question his.”

Some years back, council members remember, they were swindled by a hog-farm company that promised a percent of profits in exchange for an easement and then managed the books so there was no profit.

Rodney M. Bordeaux, tribal council president: “[The wind developers will not] take advantage of us like the hog farm did.”

A wind installation reborn: Osborn promised the tribe’s royalty will come from revenues, not profits. The deal has been revised. The tribe stands to make $5 million+ over the next 20 years, a drop-off of $1.7 million in return for the up front taxes.

Council President Bordeaux likes the new deal and seems to have put the hostile negotiations behind him: “The main idea is we got that initiative going…We can become a major player in wind in South Dakota.”

Patricia Nelson Limerick, history professor/board chairwoman, Center of the American West, University of Colorado: “[There are] several hundred years of mistrust between white folks and Indians…If you average out the zigzags [in the wind deal]…it’s moving in the right direction.”

Osborn: “Doing business on a reservation…is more difficult than doing business in China.”

The Rosebud Sioux lands. (click to enlarge)

Indian Tribes See Profit in Harnessing the Wind for Power
Felicity Barringer, October 9, 2008 (NY Times)

WHO
The Rosebud Sioux (Rodney M. Bordeaux, tribal council president; Ken Haukaas, tribal official); Dale Osborn, president, wind developer Distributed Generation Systems Inc.

WHAT
Building wind installations could create a new economic boon for Native Americans in the Midwest but it is a daunting undertaking.

South Dakota has the winds. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- 2003: The Rosebud Sioux tribal council erected a 750-kilowatt turbine and started planning the Owl Feather War Bonnet wind farm.
- 2006: Tribal council approved initial deal.
- 2007: Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs signed off.
- 2008: Final deal expected to be concluded.

WHERE
- The tribe is located on Native American reservation lands around Rosebud, South Dakota.
- The Owl Feather War Bonnet wind farm will be built on 50 acres in the western part of the Rosebud reservation.
- There is a Rosebud Casino near the Nebraska border.
- Distributed Generation Systems Inc. is based in Colorado,
- There is one significant large wind installation on Native American lands, a 50-megawatt project on the Campo reservation near San Diego, CA.

WHY
- The 29,000 tribal members of the Rosebud Sioux have a per capita annual income of ~$7,700, less than a third the national average.
The 750-kilowatt turbine built in 2003 powers the Rosebud Casino.
- The Owl Feather War Bonnet wind farm is a 30-megawatt project could bring in some $5 million over 20 years.
- The Energy Department has been hoping for more wind installations on Native American lands to prove to wind developers successful projects are possible.
- The Energy Department invested ~$450,000 in the Owl Feather War Bonnet wind development.
- The Lower Brule Sioux tribe, to the northeast of Rosebud, is planning a 225-megawatt wind project with Iberdrola Renewables.
- Distributed Generation Systems and Osborn have built small-scale projects in Colorado, Spain and China.

The one thing about the Pickens Plan almost nobody disputes. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Sandra Begay-Campbell, principal member/technical staff, Sandia National Laboratories: “People have been waiting for something to happen so you can point to the success and say, ‘Look at this model.’ …[But only the Rosebud Sioux] are poised and ready to move toward the actual development and hardware.”
- Ken Haukaas, tribal project manager, Rosebud Sioux: “This is a $58.6 million project…We do not put up a dime. All we put up is the land.”
- The NY Times: "The wind blows incessantly here in the high plains; screen doors do not last. Wind is to South Dakota what forests are to Maine or beaches are to Florida: a natural bounty and a valuable inheritance."