Hungry for the holidays
'Hunger never goes away' says pantry head

Larae Kendall readies bags of commodity food as Tyi Jones carries a case of melons on Wednesday at the Community Pantry. The pantry was handing out food commodities and selling turkey baskets to help make Thanksgiving a little easier for some folks. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Overlapping authorities and lack of a Navajo Nation renewable energy policy has created confusion over which entity has the authority to approve wholesale energy projects on Navajo.

Two developers currently are looking at potential wind farms in the Gray Mountain area of Cameron — Citizens Energy, a company owned by Joseph Kennedy II, and Sempra Energy of San Diego. But before either project can go forward, the Nation needs to put an end to internal conflicts.

Navajo Attorney General Louis Denetsosie, in a Nov. 12 memorandum to Lawrence Platero, chair of the Economic Development Committee and George Arthur, chair of the Resources Committee, recommended that all parties involved meet and determine which developer the Nation will select to pursue the wind project or whether all interested parties can participate, and secondly, resolve the question of who has approval authority.

The meeting was scheduled for Monday but now has been reset for the end of December and likely will be in executive session with each entity presenting its information separately from the other parties. In addition to Citizens and Sempra, Diné Power Authority, Cameron Chapter officials, executive directors for the divisions of Economic Development and Natural Resources, and Navajo Department of Justice have been requested to attend.

Natural Resources Executive Director Arvin Trujillo said in a November interview that although some companies have been dealing directly with the chapters in which they hope to establish projects, there is no delegation of authority down to the chapter level.

Cameron Chapter adopted a resolution approving a feasibility study for International Piping Products, aka Independent Power Projects, better known as IPP. In an April presentation to the Navajo Nation Council, Bruce McAlvain, president of IPP, said it was in the “due diligence phase” with its industry partner, Sempra.

Through IPP, Sempra first approached Cameron Chapter in October 2006 and received a conditional use permit in June 2007. Former Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah joined Sempra as cultural adviser this past April. The company has since funded Internet service for the chapter, rebuilt water tanks for cattle, sponsored the Navajo Nation Rodeo and a Division of Natural Resources Conference, and has opened an office in Cameron.

Sempra is looking at a 45,000 acre site and plans to build a 250-500 megawatt wind farm to deliver power to customers in Arizona, Nevada and California. It also is planning a 500 megawatt solar project on Navajo.

Diné Power Authority and Citizens Energy also propose to develop utility-scale wind power projects on Navajo.

Kennedy presented his development plans to Council in April and met last week with Navajo officials in Las Vegas before traveling to Cameron.

“Cameron is pretty much lined up behind IPP and Sempra but DPA has authority to deal with renewable energy and we’re having a rough time,” said Steven Begay, DPA general manager.

Dine Power asked for an opinion from the attorney general on March 4 regarding whether its plan of operation grants primacy to DPA in the area of wholesale energy development. In a Nov. 12 memo to Begay, Denetsosie said it is the opinion of his office that DPA was granted primary authority and responsibility to engage in wholesale energy development and transmission projects on behalf of Navajo on a case-by-case basis whenever the Nation has decided that it should participate or own equity in such a project.

However, Denetsosie also said that DPA must work with the various departments and standing committees to obtain proper approvals for the use of Navajo land and natural resources.

Begay said that in addition to Gray Mountain,

DPA/Citizens are looking at Shonto/Black Mesa area as a potential wind site and that Shonto Chapter already has approved a resolution.

Braden Houston of Citizens said the company entered into a memorandum of understanding with DPA in July 2006 and has been working in Cameron since about that time.

“We’ve done some preliminary analyses on the wind resource, on the transmission, all the things that are kind of instrumental in putting together a wind project. We obviously have a very strong interest in that project.”

DPA/Citizens are looking at 35,000 acres on Gray Mountain for a 200-500 megawatt project with construction to begin in 2010. The project could produce from $3 million to $10 million a year for Navajo in taxes and royalties, 200 temporary construction jobs and 10 to 20 permanent jobs.
A percentage of the profits would be provided for local economic development and assistance. Grazing permit holders would receive compensation for surface damage.

This past March, the Navajo Nation Office of the President/Vice President, Division of Natural Resources, DPA and Citizens entered into an agreement in principle to work together to develop potential more than 500 megawatts of wind energy in several locations across Navajo.

Citizens has donated school supplies and toys to Cameron Chapter, introduced a food and water program to the community, and sponsored a veterans luncheon. Last year, Citizens gave approximately $429,000 to Navajo in home heating oil assistance, which was distributed through Social Services, and plans to donate again this year.

Levon Thomas, a Navajo working for Citizens, said that on Kennedy’s visit to Cameron last week he briefed residents on what Citizens is about and the type of programs it offers. “I think there is still a lot of mixed feelings. Nothing really came out of it. There were people who supported him and people who didn’t.”

Chapter President Teddy Bedonie said recently, “We’d like to make the best decision we can for our elderly without polluting the mountain. We have to also consider educating the elderly and the rest of the community on what this project is going to entail, what we are going to be envisioning in the future, and what kind of benefits we’d like to be getting. The community needs to get involved in partnership if not ownership.”