Indian Country Energy Services
Native American Energy Specialists
Press Releases
Indian Country Energy Services (ICES) is partnering with the progressive Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians to support the Tribe in their energy efforts and researching the feasibility of various renewable energy projects.
New York, NY – Jul 09, 2010 – Indian Country Energy Services (ICES) is a native-owned business that provides all facets of energy consulting services to Tribes. ICES President Brian Patterson (Oneida, NY) states “We are excited to be partnering with Tribal Chief Brenda Commander and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. As one of the forerunners in Indian Country, the Houlton Band of Maliseet have been leaders in many areas specifically with their business entity Tribalco which is an 8a providing multiple service contracts for the federal government. As the President of United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) of which Houlton Band of Maliseet is a member, I have had the privilege of working with Tribal Chief Commander for many years and look forward to helping to serve the Tribe in their energy needs.”
ICES Founding Partner, Jannine Salo, notes "With years of experience working with and for various Tribal Governments, it is always an honor to work with such a progressive Tribe and a true leader such as Tribal Chief Brenda Commander. We are excited at the opportunity to serve the Tribe and help them reach their renewable energy goals."
The Houlton Band of Maliseet is a federally recognized Tribal Nation located in Maine. According to the Tribe, “In the early 1970's, some Maliseet and members of other tribes not living on recognized reservations banded together to form the Association of Aroostook Indians, which eventually allowed them access to federal and state programs. The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians (HBMI) has been federally recognized as a government by the United States of America since October of 1980. This federal recognition gives HBMI a unique government to government trust relationship with the United States. In turn, recognition entitles the Houlton Band to many services provided to Indians by the United States of America, including health care through Indian Health Services (IHS), housing through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the ability to govern our own Tribal Affairs.
The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians is comprised of some 800 members and is lead by a Tribal Chief. A smaller band of the larger Maliseet Nation of New Brunswick, Canada, the Houlton Band calls the Meduxnekeag River home. The Maliseets are river people who have traditionally been hunters and gatherers in the St. John River basin, of which the Meduxnekeag is a tributary.
ICES provide services to Tribes with no cost to the Tribes. Services are generally funded by suppliers, business partners, and investors. Service offerings include Tribal Energy Audits, Supply Management, Competitive Procurement Services, Load Shifting, Renewable Energy Services, Demand Response, Micro Grid Assessment and Design. ICES specializes in helping Tribes determine how best to maximize Tribal energy assets and innately understand how fiscally limiting it can be for Tribes to fund these efforts in the initial stages. Therefore ICES collaborates with several resources to support the business model to create a performance based fee structure. This enables Tribes to choose which option is most viable for their individual needs without cost. ICES partners with Geo-thermal, Solar, Wind, and Biomass companies to bring these options to Tribes in an affordable way while also providing mechanisms for job training and creation.
ICES provide services to Tribes with no cost to the Tribes. Service offerings include Tribal Energy Audits, Supply Management, Competitive Procurement Services, Load Shifting, Renewable Energy Services, Demand Response, Micro Grid Assessment and Design. ICES specializes in helping Tribes determine how best to maximize Tribal energy assets and innately understand how fiscally limiting it can be for Tribes to fund these efforts in the initial stages. Therefore ICES collaborates with several resources to support the business model to create a performance based fee structure. This enables Tribes to choose which option is most viable for their individual needs without cost. ICES partners with Geo-thermal, Solar, Wind, and Biomass companies to bring these options to Tribes in an affordable way while also providing mechanisms for job training and creation.
Indian Country Energy Services works to leverage Federal, State, private investor and local incentives on behalf of our clients specifically identifying grants, loans, tax abatements & credits, and local incentives on behalf of our Indian Country clients specifically identifying grants, loans, tax abatements & credits, and navigating the confusing regulations, energy districts, enterprise zones, special situations & regulations that create and local incentives on behalf of our Indian Country clients specifically identifying grants, loans, tax abatements & credits, and navigating the confusing regulations, energy districts, enterprise zones, special situations & regulations that create and local incentives on behalf of our Indian Country clients specifically identifying grants, loans, tax abatements & credits, and navigating the confusing regulations, energy districts, enterprise zones, special situations & regulations that create opportunities for our tribal clients. ICES also has expertise in leveraging the available renewable energy certificates for tribes.
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By Gale Courey Toensing
Story Published: Jul 19, 2010 Story Updated: Jul 16, 2010
MOBILE, Ala. – As the United South and Eastern Tribes celebrates its 40th anniversary, the inter-tribal organization is posing some important questions about the federal government’s trust responsibility and the government-to-government relationship between the U.S. and the country’s indigenous nations.
“Every single issue Indian country faces centers around the federal government’s trust responsibility,” USET President Brian Patterson said following the nonprofit organization’s mid-year conference in Mobile, Ala. in June. “So as USET moves forward in continuing the vision of our four founding tribes – the vision of strength in unity – the first thing we’re looking to determine is: What is the vision of implementing the federal government’s trust responsibility to the tribes? It’s a question I ask of Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar and I think it’s a question Indian country needs to advance on all levels. “And the second part to that question is even more fundamental, and that is: Who determines what the trust responsibility is in developing the government-to-government relationship with the tribes?”
Clearly, a relationship involves two parties and Patterson believes the nations need to take a more proactive role in defining and shaping the federal government’s trust responsibility and the government-to-government relationship.
“The tribes need to be proactive in defining what the trust relationship is and presenting that vision to the government and those dialogues need to take place at the highest levels within the administration. For tribes to wait for the federal government to move this conversation forward is ludicrous,” Patterson said.
“We need to be more involved in federal policy-making that affects the tribes. How does the federal government involve itself in all major decisions affecting the tribes? How does it balance its trust obligation with the tribes with state interests and state rights? We’ve done a lot in the recent past to expand our role in assuring that our tribal voice is heard in Washington on federal Indian law matters, but we still have outstanding issues. I think that’s the continuous fight and that’s where it needs to be centered.”
USET passed 24 resolutions at its mid-year conference and almost all of them relate directly to the federal government’s trust responsibility, Patterson said. At the top of the agenda is the urgent need for a legislative “Carcieri fix” to correct a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year that the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act restricts the Interior Department secretary to take land into trust only for tribes “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934. “This is an issue that affects every tribe in Indian country, some directly, some indirectly. And all tribes need to be alarmed about how this decision has emboldened and empowered the states,” Patterson said.
He pointed to the Cape Wind project – a proposal to build an offshore industrial wind factory in Nantucket Sound, an area sacred to the Wampanoag tribes. The project was opposed by the tribes, environmental groups, local towns, airports and boating authorities, and also by USET in a formal letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, but several states supported it and Salazar approved it. “As we deal with concerns such as Cape Wind and Interior’s green lighting of that offshore wind project, which would disrupt an area of great sacred significance for several of our member tribes, we need to develop and have dialogue with those responsible for implementing the trust relationship in Indian country,” Patterson said.
USET passed a resolution seeking a reversal of Salazar’s approval of Cape Wind, and has also written in support of a speedy resolution of the Cobell settlement. All three issues – Carcieri, Cape Wind and Cobell – are “tied to the federal government’s failed trust responsibility,” he said.
The disastrous BP oil rig blowout in April gave rise to a USET resolution urging the U.S. Coast Guard – the lead agency for oil clean-up efforts – to “fully comply with their legal responsibilities to initiate consultation directly on a government-to-government basis with Indian tribes in all stages of the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106.” The BP oil spill affects the whole cycle of creation, Patterson noted. “USET tribes in the Mobile, Ala. area are in the shadow of the BP oil spill. It’s a tragic time for the communities, including our own Native American communities who live in the Gulf Coast area. The spill highlights the need for the federal government to play an appropriate regulatory role that ensures that businesses act responsibly without overburdening them. It’s a tough balance to achieve. Our prayers are with the Gulf Coast communities.”
Another resolution involved the appointment of representatives to the BIA/Tribal Budget Advisory Council, a forum where tribal representatives from each of the 12 BIA regions come together to discuss funding for the tribes and to assist in formulating the annual BIA budget. In this area, too, Patterson is urging more proactive involvement. “We’re at a disadvantage because we don’t have a relationship with the Office of Management and Budget so the process is flawed from the beginning and Indian country is left again in a responsive mode instead of being in an advocacy position. We really need to elevate beyond the current process.”
Another resolution urges the Interior secretary to fulfill his trust responsibility by supporting secretarial procedures for tribes’ gaming efforts when states refuse to negotiate in good faith on Class III gaming compacts.
All of the resolutions are posted on USET’s Web site at www.usetinc.org under “Resources.” Patterson said the mid-year conference was “very dynamic,” but more work needs to be done. “I think we have a little window of opportunity to forward some of these issues that have brought hardships to Indian country and have prohibited Indian country from advancing, but tribes need to be engaged and we need to hold ourselves accountable to the process.”
