Hydropower, Energy Dominance, And Tribal Rights

---

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

---

The US government has declared an “energy emergency,” a pretext it is using to sweep aside any and all impediments to its “drill, baby, drill” mania. In truth, there is no energy emergency. The US is now the largest producer of fossil fuels in the world and is using its weaponized tariff strategy to force other nations to buy more of its oil and methane.

In 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) put a rule in place that allowed tribes to veto hydropower projects on their land. According to E&E News, the original FERC policy was adopted after the body rejected seven preliminary permits for proposed hydropower projects that would have been located within Navajo Nation land. Commissioners said at the time that they “will not issue preliminary permits for projects proposing to use Tribal lands if the Tribe on whose lands the project is to be located opposes the permit.”

Chris Wright Wants A Do-Over

Last month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright asked FERC to reverse the rule, claiming it is not compatible with a grid that needs to grow as quickly as possible. And why is such rapid growth needed? So America can win the race to build the most data centers in the world, powered by anything but wind or solar. “For America to continue dominating global energy markets, we must remove unnecessary burdens to the development of critical infrastructure, including hydropower projects,” Wright wrote.

America’s native tribes see the requested shift in policy as yet another attempt by the Great White Father to shove his fist down their throats. In a response to Wright’s proposal, they claimed it would trample on their rights while not doing much to encourage new hydropower development.

The Tribes Push Back

Amy Trainer, the director of environmental policy for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington state, wrote in a comment that removing tribal veto authority would “invite speculative filings” and would “undermine the government’s credibility as a trustee and partner to Tribal Nations. Far from expediting hydropower development, such a rule would create unnecessary delays and uncertainty, diverting attention from projects that could advance with Tribal support.”

“In conversations we’ve had with investors, the need to get renewable capacity online as quickly as possible was often pitted against the need to engage with Indigenous peoples,” said Kate Finn, executive director of the Tallgrass Institute, which promotes Indigenous sovereignty. “What we say is the reality is that the need for energy doesn’t have to be in opposition to engagement with Indigenous people. There’s a way to include Indigenous perspectives in a meaningful way.” That would be news to Chris Wright.

The Tallgrass Institute recently partnered with Trillium Asset Management to create a report that sets forth the best practices that would allow investors to engage with Native American tribes before embarking on projects that affect their lands. Some of the ideas proposed in that report include conducting due diligence on projects, being transparent with tribal partners, building relationships, and finding structures to share benefits.

In other words, don’t just ride into town with a list of demands. Engage with the communities most affected to forge partnerships. It is hard to imagine that global energy dominance is high on the list of priorities for most tribal organizations, but preserving what little is left of tribal lands may well be.

Native American land constitutes just 2 percent of total US territory but has about 6 percent of the country’s renewable energy resource potential. Investors are scouring the landscape, looking for every available opportunity to build new projects, so many of them could be located on tribal lands. The report said that the consultation step isn’t just about respect, it can also “support efficient capital flow to projects that are more likely to be successful in the long term.”

Protecting Ancestral Lands

Sada Geuss, an investment manager with Trillium, said the report was part of a push to avoid negative practices from extractive industries and ensure that tribes can take some benefits to projects. Even though the Trump administration has encouraged energy dominance above all else, Geuss said that investors would still benefit from consulting before embarking on projects.

“There’s a lot of movement back and forth around engagement, about environmental issues and about land use more broadly,” she said. “We’re trying to get companies to think more holistically with a long term view for the best practices. Just complying with what the current administration is doing does not set you up for success in a future administration.”

When the current policy was put in place, it was hailed by the tribes as an important step toward giving them more say over energy projects that could affect their land or spiritual sites. However, it was never formally adopted via the normal rule making process. Wright claims it makes it harder to build energy projects, totally ignoring the fact that this administration has cancelled permits and eliminated incentives for large-scale renewable energy projects.

If there really is an energy emergency, those projects would be pushed to the front of the queue, instead of focusing on other forms of energy that are much more expensive and take forever and a day to complete.

Wright wrote that FERC had “effectively delegated its exclusive statutory authority to issue preliminary permits to third parties.” The National Hydropower Association agrees wit him. It wrote in comments that his proposal would preserve “the ability for developers to protect their early investment in a proposed project … while the developer conducts the important work of consulting with federal and state regulators, Indian Tribes, and other interested parties.”

Most preliminary permit objections, the group wrote, “necessarily rest on a dearth of information. Meeting load growth while maintaining reliability and resilience will require timely development of new generation, and hydropower is uniquely positioned to meet that need,” NHA added.

The tribes counter that consultation before the preliminary permit stage means better projects that respect their rights under the Federal Power Act. Jason Gobin, executive director of the Tulalip Tribes of the Pacific Northwest, wrote in a comment, “Our people, our traditions, our culture, our very survival is inextricably tied to the fate of our natural environment. We cannot afford any diminishment or circumvention to the protections of treaty resources at such a time they are at tremendous risk.”

What’s The Hurry?

Tribes and their advocates also noted that FERC had moved with undue haste to accommodate the energy secretary, without any consultation with the tribes that would be most affected by the change in policy. They were given just two weeks for comments after Wright claimed the need to reduce energy project delays was “urgent.”

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, based in Nevada, wrote that the proposed change was a “plain violation of Tribal sovereignty” and that the quick process made it “very difficult and likely impossible for many impacted Tribes to provide timely comments on this adverse proposal.”

Speaking to reporters recently, FERC Chair Laura Swett said that her staff is “reviewing the comments we’ve received now, and we will certainly take every request into account, including the one to extend the deadline.” Maybe. And maybe the fix is in and the tribes are going to be told to shut up and go away — again.

Hydro projects take a long time to bring online — dams don’t just appear overnight. Only nuclear generating stations take longer to bring online. By contrast, solar power installations in particular are quickest to complete and can start providing power years before hydro ever could.

So, why are renewables getting such determined pushback from the current administration? Having a chief executive who believes renewables are a scam probably has a lot to do with it. Readers are encouraged to share any other ideas in the comments section.