The purpose of this program is to guarantee up to 90 percent of the unpaid principal and interest on loans borrowed by Indian tribes to support energy development projects and activities. The funding agency is particularly focused on catalyzing the use of commercially available technologies in Indian country. Projects employing commercial technologies are preferred. The program will support a broad range of energy-related projects, including:
Electricity generation, transmission and/or distribution facilities, utilizing renewable or conventional energy sources
Energy storage facilities, whether or not integrated with any of the above
Energy resource extraction, refining or processing facilities
Energy transportation facilities, including pipelines
District heating and cooling facilities
Cogeneration facilities
Distributed energy project portfolios, including portfolios of smaller distributed generation and storage facilities employed pursuant to a unified business plan
The program has the following policy priorities, as they relate to disadvantaged and tribal comunities:
Decrease energy burden
Decrease environmental exposure and burdens
Increase access to low-cost capital
Increase the clean energy job pipeline and job training for individuals
Increase clean energy enterprise creation
Increase energy democracy, including community ownership and other economic benefits associated with the energy transition
Increase parity in clean energy technology access and adoption
Increase energy resilience