The shakopee mdewakanton sioux community (smsc) seeks funding to determine viable locations and define potential targets to support its goal of implementing a community solar and or wind farm designed…

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) received a $115,424 Project Grant from the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands program (CFDA 15.038) awarded on September 22, 2025. This two-year project, concluding September 21, 2027, will deliver a comprehensive feasibility study and land assessment to identify viable locations and define potential targets for implementing community-scale solar and/or wind energy systems on tribal lands in Scott County, Minnesota. The study will evaluate sites suitable for renewable energy projects under 5 megawatts (MW) in size, with prioritization given to locations capable of serving tribal residential homes and government operations, building upon prior utility-scale solar feasibility work completed in 2024.

The deliverables from this grant will support SMSC's long-term sustainability objectives, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 and installing 16.1 MW of renewable energy capacity by that target date. Through this technical assistance effort, SMSC will obtain the requisite assessment data, analyses, and site evaluations necessary to make informed decisions regarding renewable energy development and advance its seven-generation environmental stewardship goals. The project aligns with the federal program's mission to provide tribes with technical resources for evaluating energy potential on Indian trust lands and supports SMSC's broader tribal economic development and energy sovereignty objectives.

The shakopee mdewakanton sioux community (smsc) seeks funding to determine viable locations and define potential targets to support its goal of implementing a community solar and or wind farm designed to serve tribal residential homes and tribal buildings. Smsc is a federally recognized, sovereign native american tribal government consisting of approximately 350 members. Smsc is a community of dakota people of the great sioux nation whose ancestors have lived in the region near shakopee, minnesota for centuries. Smsc currently owns and operates a diverse collection of 24 total enterprises on its 9.56 square miles (6,119 acres) of combined reservation and off-reservation trust land in scotts county, minnesota.as part of the smsc community solar and wind feasibility study and land assessment project, smsc will carry out a feasibility study to assess the potential for deploying community-scale solar and or wind energy systems on tribal land. The study will focus on identifying and evaluating sites suitable for renewable energy projects under 5 MW in size. Smsc will prioritize locations that could serve tribal residential homes and or tribal government operations. This effort will build upon prior work completed through the ongoing 2024 emdp utility-scale solar and storage feasibility study which focused on larger scale solar systems greater than 5 MW.this project supports smscs long-term goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 to foster long-term community sustainability and protect and preserve tribal lands for the next seven generations. As part of this long-term goal, smsc intends to install 16.1MW of renewable energy by 2035. This project supports smscs long-term goals because IT aims to establish a solar and or wind farm designed to decarbonize the community and increase smscs renewable energy generation.to meet smscs long-term and project goals, the proposed project will meet the following objectives:1.objective 1: to assess and identify suitable land parcels and surrounding infrastructure on smsc tribal land that have capacity for renewable energy development.2.objective 2: to evaluate solar and wind resource potential at each identified location, while also assessing key site characteristics such as slope, shading, and flood risk.3.objective 3: to complete a preliminary system design for the most suitable site and resource type(s), including estimating annual energy generation and incorporating those outputs into a financial model to assess project viability.4.objective 4: to draft a request for proposal (RFP) and an evaluation framework to support the selection of an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor.by the end of the project, smsc will have a feasibility study that includes actionable recommendations and identifies at least one site for shovel-ready deployment.