Support from Tides Center project Honor the Earth key in promoting wind energy in Native communities

June 29, 2008 – Pine Ridge Reservation, SD - As a crowd of tribal members gathered, a 65 kilowatt wind turbine was erected next to the KILI radio station on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on June 25, 2008.  The turbine will be commissioned and the blades will be turning at the end of July, electrifying KILI, The Voice of the Lakota Nation, with wind power.

The project launches the first large scale use of wind on the reservation, demonstrating the viability of a renewable energy future for the Lakota people. To celebrate, KILI is hosting a day-long outdoor event with a feast, speakers and music on Thursday, July 31. The event marks KILI’s 25th anniversary on the air, and a new beginning for clean energy on Pine Ridge.

KILI is the largest Indian radio station in the country, and one of the largest consumers of electricity on the reservation. The refurbished Nordtank turbine will produce approximately 92,171 kWh of power annually, representing a potential savings to KILI Radio of about $12,000.00 a year in electricity bills. Instead of that money leaving the community to pay for energy from coal, the turbine will keep previously lost revenue at KILI and, at the same time, help reduce carbon emissions.

The wind project began six years ago, when KILI applied for an anemometer from the National Renewable Energy Lab's Wind Powering America program to collect wind data at the site.  Two national Native organizations, Honor the Earth and Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, joined with KILI in a determined effort to support the vision of a wind turbine at the radio station.

Pine Ridge is one of the poorest reservations in the country, and also one of the windiest. The reservation’s wind resources are so great that if fully harnessed, Pine Ridge could produce 4,000 times more power than tribal members could use, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

“Wind energy is the fastest growing energy source in the world, and Native communities have an excellent potential to be a part of that trend. We see the KILI wind turbine as a flagship project, a springboard for a broad, tribal renewable energy initiative,” said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth.

“Tribal wind power can create a dynamic transformation in electricity generation, away from fossil fuels and nuclear power and toward energy production that protects the Earth,” said Patrick Spears, President of Intertribal Council On Utility Policy.

“Right now, Lakota treaty lands are under assault by uranium mining companies -- the price of uranium has skyrocketed under the false claim that nuclear power is a way to combat climate change. The nuclear industry thinks poisoning our communities with radiation somehow beats scorching ourselves with carbon. That’s not a choice. The threat of uranium mining makes demonstrating alternatives even more urgent,” said LaDuke.

The KILI wind installation was conducted as an intensive week-long training for tribal members interested in working in the wind industry. More than 40 tribal members participated in the training, led by Intertribal Council On Utility Policy.

Funding for the wind project was raised from Honor the Earth benefit concerts, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Seva Foundation, Vervane Foundation, St. Luke Presbytarian Church, the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development and individuals such as Angelina Jolie and Stone Gossard, with critical financing provided by NativeEnergy. 

Click here for photographs of the turbine
Click here to listen to a South Dakota Public Broadcasting Radio Segment about the KILI turbine

Contact:
Honor the Earth
Phone: 612.879.7529
Email: info@honorearth.org