On July 27-28, eleven Mesa Grande tribal members and several of the Band’s planning and development team members participated in a very productive two-day Strategic Energy Planning session with excellent DOE facilitators Sean Esterly and Alicen Kandt.
It was a great chance to discuss the tribe’s energy needs, goals, current and potential projects, and the long-term vision for community development. In the next few weeks, Sean and Alicen will provide Mesa Grande with a full report of the discussion in the form of a draft Strategic Energy Plan (SEP). That plan will be posted on the Mesa Grande website for all tribal members to review and discuss.
A big thank-you to the tribal members who took time out of their own schedules to participate in these sessions, and to our non-tribal team members and partners as well. We hope to do more of these open sessions in the future to ensure that all tribal members have an opportunity to participate in shaping our community’s future. And thank you to the Department of Energy and NREL (National Renewable Energy Labs) for providing capable and much-appreciated technical experts to guide us through the process.