Sage Development Authority, which is owned by the Native American Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST), has launched a crowdfunding initiative as part of the next phase of its plans for the 235MW Anpetu Wi wind farm in North Dakota.
Anpetu Wi will be located on the Standing Rock Reservation, between Porcupine and Fort Yates, which is home to the Lakota and Dakota people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
The crowdfunding aims to raise $1.5m as its phase-one goal and is the next step toward achieving the building of Anpetu Wi.
This follows Sage’s submission for an application for interconnection to the Southwest Power Pool.
Nearly $2m has already been raised to date from nine different philanthropic foundations for pre-development work to establish Sage, which will also take advantage of the enhanced market economics that come with qualification for the 2020 Federal Production Tax Credit.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be $325m.
Anpetu Wi is a community development model to produce renewable energy that offers a path toward self-determination and sovereignty for Standing Rock and other Native nations.
Public power authority Sage is charged with leading Standing Rock’s efforts at developing renewable energy resources for economic development.
Anpetu Wi, which means ‘the breaking of the new day’ in the Lakota language, will be a revenue source for SRST and will support Standing Rock in providing essential needs such as schools, roads, health care and housing development.
Sage board chair Fawn Wasin Zi said: “Developing renewable energy resources-for export as well as local consumption-will foster badly needed economic development on the Reservation and provide employment and skills training.
“We believe the new website will help people understand who we are, what we stand for, and serve as a critical vehicle to enlist people to help us make lasting change.”
Sage general manager Joseph McNeil said: “We are proud to achieve another milestone in our quest to create a model for self-determination and economic development not only for our people but for all Native communities.
“For our people and me, this project is a prayer. It allows us something to leave behind for future generations of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and reflects our cultural values by prioritising people, land, and nature over profit.
“Our model certainly includes investors, but also allows us to benefit directly from its revenue for hundreds of years to come.”
Foundation partners include the Wallace Global Fund, Sierra Club Foundation, JPB Foundation, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, Tamalpais Trust, Cedar Tree Foundation, Christensen Fund and an anonymous donor.