SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — One of the world’s largest technology companies is teaming up with six Native American tribes in South Dakota.
In a news release, Apple announced it will be working with the Oceti Sakowin Power Authority, which was formed by six Sioux tribes, to jointly “develop tribal renewable energy resources by financing, developing, constructing, and operating power generation and transmission facilities for the wholesale market.”
The partnership is part of Apple’s Impact Accelerator from Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative. The renewable energy looks to come from a “large-scale wind power development in the Midwest.”
The OSPA was created in 2015 for the Native American tribes to “jointly develop their wind and solar resources.”
On the Oglala Pine Ridge Reservation and the Cheyenne River Reservation, OSPA is currently working with Apex Clean Energy to build two wind farms. A project manager with OSPA says the Pass Creek wind farm on the Oglala Pine Ridge Reservation is 120 megawatts and expected be running in 2025. The Ta’teh Topah wind farm is being built on the Cheyenne River Reservation and will be 450 megawatts expected to come online in 2026.
Lyle Jack, Chairman of the Oceti Sakowin Power Authority and member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, said the projects will “bring hundreds of construction jobs and dozens of high-skilled permanent jobs during operations to our communities, as well as generate tens of millions in tax revenues for providing essential services and support to our people.”
“Apple’s early support in OSPA’s development of Pass Creek Wind on the Oglala Pine Ridge Reservation and Ta’teh Topah Wind on the Cheyenne River Reservation will help us reach sustainable economic development for our people and fulfill our obligation to look after Our Grandmother Earth, Unci Maka,” Jack said in a news release.
Apple, the California-based company, has stated it is committed to be carbon neutral for its entire business and supply chain by 2030 and is already carbon neutral for its corporate operations.