SOUTH DAKOTA – A $71 million investment from the Investing in America agenda to electrify homes in 13 communities across Indian Country will help close the access-to-electricity gap.
Two Lakota tribes will receive a share of this funding to improve services in their communities. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will receive $11.8 million in funding for this initiative. Another $2 million will go to the SAGE Development Authority, a federally chartered Section 17 corporation created by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
“Every family deserves to have access to reliable, affordable electricity. Now, with historic investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we’re honoring our commitment to deliver clean energy to Indian Country to electrify more homes,” said Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland. “This new program is building reliable, resilient energy that Tribes and communities can rely on, and advancing our work to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean energy future.”
This second and final round of funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Tribal Electrification Program, is part of an overall $150 million commitment to provide financial and technical assistance to connect homes in Tribal communities to transmission and distribution that is powered by clean energy; provide electricity to unelectrified homes through zero-emissions energy systems; transition electrified homes to zero-emissions energy systems; and support associated home repairs and retrofitting necessary to install the zero-emissions energy systems. In addition, the program supports clean energy workforce development opportunities in Indian Country.
“Indian Affairs’ Tribal Electrification Program continues to provide Tribes with the assistance they need to ensure their communities have safe, reliable electricity, which is essential to daily living,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland. “Working with Tribal governments on developing clean energy sources and bringing the benefits of dependable electricity to their communities is part of our mission of service to federally recognized Tribes.”
In 2000, the Energy Information Administration estimated that 14 percent of households on Native American reservations had no access to electricity, which was 10 times higher than the national average. In 2022, the Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy issued a report citing that 16,805 Tribal homes were unelectrified, with most being in the Southwest region and Alaska.
The Tribal Electrification Program advances the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 initiative, which sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution, including federally recognized Tribal Nations. To see a complete list of tribes receiving a share of this funding, visit
For more information, visit the BIA’s interactive map for projects in Tribal communities funded through the Investing in America agenda.
Sicangu News 