Project Overview
Yakama Power is the primary utility serving Yakama Nation, focused on providing reliable, low-cost power and good paying jobs for tribal members. Gradient Xergy collaborated with Yakama Power to win a grant with the Washington Department of Commerce for $500,000 to support grid modernization upgrades. The project has enabled better service to members, faster troubleshooting during outages, and the opportunity to integrate renewable energy more seamlessly into the grid. Recently, it paved the way for an additional $94 million in USDA and DOE funding to build a “responsible sovereign solar installation,” a project that will be non-disruptive to cultural sites or the environment.
Our Strategy
- Tailoring grant requirements to Yakama Power
- Yakama Power’s work with the state of Washington is unique from other utilities’, as a government-to-government negotiation. Our team worked with the Department of Commerce to streamline their process to fit Yakama Power’s needs. This included negotiating the contract and subcontracts, simplifying reporting requirements, and coordinating to assign a Department of Commerce point person to Yakama Power’s various projects.
- Project management and training
- Our team helped manage deadlines, define project scope, and deliver quarterly milestones in accordance with the grant requirements. We also provided customized project management training to help build capacity within Yakama Power’s workforce.
- Renewables and energy sovereignty
- This project upgrades the grid’s equipment and technology to support variable generation sources like solar. Our team helped write and manage additional grant applications, securing $94 million for a “responsible sovereign solar installation” – designed over existing irrigation canals to avoid disrupting cultural sites or the environment. This marks a major step toward Yakama Power’s vision of full energy sovereignty and resilience, tailored to their tribe and land.
Project Impact
- New modern control and command (SCADA) system: Improved power quality to members
- Fewer outages, with shorter durations and better control
- Improved cybersecurity
- New capacity to integrate variable generation sources like solar into grid
Our Services
- Tailored project management and training
- Grant and report writing assistance
- Changes to grant structure for subsequent funding rounds, such as:
- 9-1 dollar match for tribes, as opposed to historical 1-1 match
- Department of Commerce point person assigned to all Yakama Power projects
- Streamlined grant and reporting requirements
“If Yakama Power is able to fulfill their vision completely of solar and gravity storage, it would be a big step to decarbonizing the grid in the Northwest, and it would generate revenue in perpetuity for the tribe on the order of billions of dollars to transform people’s lives across Yakama Nation.”
Jon Jantz, CEO