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Energy Use and Renewable Energy Development Potential on Indian Lands

By the Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy
March 2000

The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) has completed a study of the cost and availability of electricity to Indian households on Indian lands, and, in addition, the feasibility of using renewable energy there. The 65-page report titled Energy Consumption and Renewable Energy Development Potential on Indian Lands, examines electricity use, costs and renewable energy potential for both Federally Recognized Indian Reservations and Tribal Jurisdictional Statistical Areas (TJSA) in Oklahoma.

The major findings of this study are listed below:

• Many Indian households located on reservations are without electricity. The study revealed that 14.2 percent of Indian households on reservations have no access as compared to 1.4 percent of all U.S. households.

• According to EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), average electricity costs paid by Indian households (8.7 cents per kWh) were not statistically different from costs paid by U.S. households (8.1 cents per kWh) in 1997. However, Indians living on Indian lands, because of their generally lower household incomes, pay a greater portion of their income for electricity.

• Indian lands with the greatest need for electrification are mostly located in Arizona. Almost 37 percent of all households on the Navajo reservation, which is located primarily in Arizona but also in New Mexico and Utah, do not have electricity. Other reservations in Arizona with high rates of non-electric households are the following: Hope Reservation, 29 percent; Salt River Reservation, 12 percent; and Fort Apache Reservation, 9 percent. The Standing Rock Reservation, located in the Dakotas, also has a high rate of households without electricity - 18 percent.

• Renewable energy resources appear to exist in sixty-one reservations and TJSAs, or 50 percent of the Indian population on Indian lands, that might be developed for less than 2 cents per kWh above regional wholesale prices. Biomass provides the greatest potential for relatively inexpensive renewable-based central station power on 52 of the 61 reservations across the nation.

• Rooftop photovoltaic (PV) modules may have potential to provide limited electric service to large numbers of households without access on the Navajo Reservation. The cost for PV generation ranges from 28.0 to 51.6 cents per kWh, which is significantly higher than the average residential price of electricity. The Navajo Reservation, however, has many households that are in remote areas far from power lines. The cost to extend the power lines even a quarter mile makes PVs more cost effective at 25 to 50 cents per kWh.

• The feasibility of renewable energy projects at any location is highly dependent upon numerous local factors such as land use, terrain, electricity infrastructure and actual electric rates paid.

 

For more information on this publication, contact Fred Mayes, Team Leader at (202) 426-1166, or email fred.mayes@eia.doe.gov

A full copy of this report is available at the following URL address:
ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/pdf/renewables/ilands.pdf

Page Last Updated: January 27, 2010