Citizens Wind is the leading developer of utility-scale wind projects with Native American Tribes in the United States and First Nations in Canada.  Our partners include: 

     •  The Penobscot Indian Nation in Maine
     •  The Navajo Nation in Arizona
     •  The Sioux in South Dakota
     •  The Cree Nation of Misstissini in Quebecc
     •  Wasauksing First Nation in Ontario.

Citizens Wind sees these partnerships as more than just business deals.  Our tribal wind projects further our company’s social mission by fostering tribal sustainable development, which includes the following elements:
 
     •  Economic Development
     •  Environmental Stewardship
     •  Social Responsibility

Economic Development 

When Citizens Wind partners with a tribe for a wind project, the tribe receives far more than arm’s-length land lease payments.  Tribes are offered a low-risk partnership in which they own a significant portion of the project and share in the project’s management and control, while Citizens provides the lion’s share of the project’s development capital.  Citizens Wind is committed to using, wherever possible, tribal labor, vendors, and resources to maximize project benefits to the tribe.  Wind projects will create hundreds of temporary construction jobs as well as dozens of permanent jobs managing the project after completion.  These high-paying “green” jobs will empower the tribe’s workforce and local economy.  Property taxes from the wind project will fund local schools and public organizations, spreading the benefits of wind development throughout the community.  Citizens also possesses a long history of reinvesting profits into communities affected by Citizens’ business activities and will commit a portion of its profits to benefit programs for the tribe and local communities. 

Environmental Stewardship 

Many Native American Tribes and First Nations have a strong desire to protect the environment and develop their land sustainably, so that tribal land is unspoiled for future generations.  Wind energy development offers Tribes the ability to grow economically while respecting the environment.  Land use is largely unaffected by wind turbines; the land can be used for farming and livestock right up to the base of the towers.  Further, no mining or drilling is required to generate electricity, as wind projects require no fuel.  Unlike most power sources, wind energy requires no water use and thus has zero impact on local water quality and water supply.  Wind also has no harmful air emissions, such as climate change-inducing carbon dioxide.

Social Responsibility 

Citizens Wind understands the unique dimensions of working with Native communities and respects the environmental and cultural factors that play an important role in the well-being and autonomy of each tribal nation.  Citizens Wind’s parent company, Citizens Energy, has a long history of involvement with native communities in the United States and Canada, in which we have demonstrated our commitment to social responsibility.  Most recently, Citizens Energy’s Oil Heat Program provided nearly $20 million in energy assistance last winter to 60,000 Native American households in approximately 250 tribal communities. 

Citizens Energy chairman Joseph P. Kennedy II has an acute understanding of the issues facing Native American communities.  As a Member of the United States Congress from 1986 until 1998, Representative Kennedy championed Native American rights, fighting for equal housing opportunities, better education and improved health care for Native Americans.  Citizens Energy is dedicated to make life’s basic necessities more available and affordable for those on the outside of economic prosperity.