‘It takes a tribe:’ Jicarilla Apache Nation breaks ground on large solar project

JICARILLA APACHE NATION — Come 2025, hundreds of miles of solar panels in northern New Mexico will generate enough energy to meet the average annual needs of 38,000 homes.

On Wednesday, tribal and energy officials gathered to break ground at the site on Jicarilla Apache Nation where work is getting started on a 140-megawatt solar energy project with another 50 megawatts in battery storage.

Jicarilla Apache Nation is leasing its land to National Renewable Solutions, an independent power producer that acts as the owner, developer and operator of the solar project. The company will then sell the energy to the wholesale power provider Guzman Energy.

Then, the energy will go to customers of the Public Service Company of New Mexico, not just on the Jicarilla Apache Nation, but also Gallup, Aztec, Acoma Pueblo and other parts of northern New Mexico.

Jicarilla Apache Nation council member Jimmy Garcia said the Jicarilla Apache Nation is an oil and gas tribe.

“The ground we're standing on is abundant in oil and gas and other precious minerals,” he said, “but we can't be dependent on that because it's not sustainable and it causes damage to the environment.”

He said the Nation can use both oil and gas as well as renewables to generate power, and the transition also goes along with the tribe's culture of respecting the land.

There are other renewables the Jicarilla Apache Nation is considering though feasibility studies, Garcia said, such as hydrogen energy.

“This just opens the doors for a lot of possibilities,” he said, looking at the freshly dug ground for the Shallow Basket Energy project.

The project is expected to employ 250 on-site workers during construction and offset 218,0000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to the Jicarilla Apache Nation.

Charlie Ferrell, general manager of Jicarilla Apache Nation Power Authority, said the utility has come a long way since separating from a co-op in 2014 and becoming its own power company.

“It takes a tribe to be able to do what we need to do,” Ferrell said.

Jicarilla Apache Nation council member Adrian Notsinneh said there are more acres planned in the future for similar projects.

Bill Whitlock, CEO of National Renewable Solutions, said the groundbreaking highlighted partnerships and long-term relationships.

“We view this just as the first step in a much longer journey,” Whitlock said.

Garcia thanked past and present councils for making this project come to life.

“I always say that we're fortunate enough to live in the most beautiful place in the world,” he said, “and we're going to keep it that way.”