MTERA is proud to announce that we have just expanded our membership to 15 Member Tribes with the addition of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa! Many of us are already familiar with Bad River’s appointed representative, Daniel Wiggins, as he has been an active and helpful participants in many meetings and activities these past months. We are excited to welcome Bad River and have Daniel become an official, voting member of our board.
Exercising Tribal energy sovereignty is a theme that the Bad River Tribe deeply values. This is specifically highlighted in the Tribe’s energy mission statement with its Strategic Energy Plan, “To work toward a more progressive, financially stable government, to maintain Tribal sovereignty, and enable members to progress individually towards a more fulfilling life culturally, spiritually, and economically.” The Tribe continues to set goals towards energy efficiency, execution of clean renewable energy projects, and continued efforts towards understanding the Tribe’s opportunities under a Tribal Utility Authority. The Tribe recently concluded the installation of the Ishkonige Nawadide Solar Microgrid Project, which installed over 500 kilowatts of solar and 1,000 kilowatt hours of batteries at three Tribal facilities. The Tribe’s energy projects are further planned and executed on the Tribe’s ability to exercise energy sovereignty, and eventually reach the Tribe’s energy vision, “to empower and enable the community to move towards energy independence.”
With the addition of Bad River, we now have 15 voting Member Tribes including: Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Forest County Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk Nation, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa, St. Croix Chippewa Indians, Stockbridge Munsee Community, and the White Earth Nation.
Welcome, Bad River and Daniel!