Monday, Jun 25 2012 12:51PM
Government officials have approved a solar plant that will power 100,000 homes on an Native American reservation just outside of Las Vegas.
Government officials have approved a solar plant that will power 100,000 homes on an Native American reservation just outside of Las Vegas.
The plant will be the country's first commercial-grade solar energy project on tribal land for the renewable energy agenda. The plan will launch a 350-megawatt solar plant that will benefit the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians and is set to begin this fall.
"We do not want Indian country to be left behind as we move forward with the new energy front in the Unites States," said U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
The project was proposed by K Road Moapa Solar LLC and will take up 2,000 acres of tribal land. Along with the new renewable energy source, the project will create 400 jobs throughout construction. The tribal initiative is one of the efforts to introducing wind, solar and geothermal projects to reservations throughout the country.
Acting Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Donald Laverdure notes that tribal communities are offered a wealth of natural resources and says that the initiative reveals that tribal governments are deserving of the American Dream.
For further information, check out this source:
The Bradenton Herald