(G03) Strategic Energy Plan for a Tribal Community in Oregon

The Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla people make up the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). The CTUIR have recently completed a Strategic Energy Plan. A Strategic Energy Plan is a guiding document for the tribe to formulate a unified energy vision for the community and identify an array of technology and policy solutions to help meet a wide range of energy goals. As a community with a storied history involving energy infrastructure, from large scale hydropower disrupting culturally significant salmon runs to one of the largest Superfund sites in the United States (the Hanford Site nuclear production complex) being located within the traditional use area of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people, there are many complex and interrelated priorities involved in developing a comprehensive energy strategy. This session will dive into the details of these complex and interrelated energy priorities, including how to enhance tribal sovereignty and independence through energy infrastructure, how to decarbonize the tribal economy while protecting important natural and cultural resources, how to ensure affordable and resilient power for a lower-income community in the wildfire-prone Western U.S., and how to leverage local policy and financial resources to create workforce development opportunities, advance social equity, and encourage active community participation. The session will conclude with takeaways about how a Strategy Energy Plan can be developed not just for other Tribal communities (this process followed the US DOE Office of Indian Energy's guidelines for tribal strategic energy planning) but for all communities, rural and urban, who are passionate about taking leadership in their own energy futures.