The Moapa Band of Paiutes announced that it has entered into an exclusive joint venture partnership with Herbst Energy (company related to Terrible Herbst Oil Company, which is Nevada’s largest fuel retailer), and Stronghold, the largest minority woman-owned EPC in the US, creating Moapa Energy, which will focus on the development and deployment of up to 1.5 GW of Clean Energy Tribal Generation. Moapa Energy includes the Moapa Band of Paiutes tribe, who will maintain majority development ownership of all Tribal based Clean Energy Projects to be developed on Moapa Reservation Lands. Through this partnership, Moapa Energy will design and construct clean renewable energy on multiple sites located on their 70,000 acre Southern Nevada Reservation. This announcement was made as the National Clean Energy Summit 6.0 –conveyed by Senator Harry Reid– gets underway in Las Vegas. “Generating clean, emissions-free solar power on our Reservation has long been a goal of the Moapa people, and is true to our heritage of environmental consciousness, respect for the Earth and reverence of our sacred lands,” said Eric Lee, vice chair, Moapa Band of Paiutes. “We are thrilled to be working with Herbst Energy and Stronghold Engineering, Inc. to bring this ground-breaking partnership to fruition at a time when the nearby Reid-Gardner coal plant is being decommissioned.” “Not only is Moapa Energy a win-win for all of the stakeholders, the Moapa people, Stronghold Engineering, Inc. and our company, it is also a tremendous accomplishment for the entire Western region,” said Troy Herbst, president of Herbst Energy. “This ambitious Joint Venture will deliver a brand new supply of clean renewable energy serving the tribe, and thousands of Nevada and California utility customers.” “Stronghold is extremely proud to be working with the Moapa people and Herbst to construct and operate this milestone portfolio of clean energy projects,” noted Beverly Bailey, CEO of Stronghold. “We are excited about bringing significant tribal energy generation online in a crucial area of the West. Sited at the nexus of major transmission lines, Moapa Energy projects could provide electricity for customers of nearly every major Western utility, in Nevada and California.” “We are very honored to be working with such a diverse and unique team, and look forward to bringing economic independence, strong business development and increasing opportunities for success that will benefit current and future generations of the Moapa Band of Paiutes. Through Moapa Energy, we look forward to creating quality jobs for the Moapa Band of Paiutes tribal community,” added Sandy King, Director of Renewable Energy Project Development at Stronghold. The first project slated for development by Moapa Energy will be a 250MW solar power plant that will supply 400 million kilowatt hours of clean electrical generation annually, the equivalent electricity to power nearly 100,000 homes. Power generation deliverability and scalability in response to demand will be addressed by Moapa Energy’s unique hybrid development approach that bridges generation needs in the evening by utilizing gas-fired generation to complement the solar photovoltaic electricity generation during the day. The project is being developed with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Tribal Energy program.
