Tribal Energy Alternatives Awards $3.2 Million to Advance Tribal Solar Projects Across Indian Country
Tribal Energy Alternatives (TEA), a Tribal-led affiliate of GRID Alternatives, proudly announces the award of $3.2 million in Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund (TSAF) Facility–Residential grant funding to 14 Tribal nations, organizations, and community-serving entities. These investments will support the expansion of solar energy access, workforce development, and long-term energy resilience across Tribal communities.
Earth Day is Every Day for Native People
Each year, Earth Day invites the world to reflect on our relationship with Mother Earth, to consider how we care for her, how we depend on her for survival, and how we can protect her for future generations. For Native communities, however, this reflection is not reserved for a single day. It is a lifelong responsibility rooted in cultural identity, spiritual belief, and ancestral knowledge that has been passed down from countless generations.
Project Completion in Oklahoma with Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
In March 2026, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma celebrated a meaningful step forward in community-led clean energy with a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new solar initiative funded by TSAF and supported by Tribal Energy Alternatives Construction and Workforce Trainee programs.
Advocating for Tribal Communities and Sustainable Energy Future on Capital Hill
March, 18, 2026, Washington DC – Tribal Energy Alternatives (TEA), the first Native-led affiliate of GRID Alternatives, is intensifying advocacy on Capitol Hill to ensure that Tribal communities are not left behind in the nation’s clean energy transition. Upon receiving an invitation to provide testimony at the Senate roundtable on rising energy prices, TEA reaffirmed its commitment to restoring critical investments in Tribal energy access, specifically addressing the loss of funding from the termination of EPA’s Solar for All Program.
Tribal Energy Alternatives Demonstrated Commitment to Tribal College & Universities Learning
Tribal Energy Alternatives (T.E.A.) is deeply committed to working with Tribal Colleges & Universities (TCU’s). T.E.A. ‘s Workforce Development work to create opportunities for tribes to engage in energy sovereignty, naturally led to partnerships with TCU’s (Tribal Colleges and Universities). TCU’s are educational institutions that have been founded by tribal governments as an act of self-determination to promote tribal sovereignty.
Tribal Energy Alternatives Workforce Program is Building the Next Generation of Indigenous Clean-Energy Leaders
In a year marked by new challenges in the renewable energy industry across Indian Country, the Tribal Energy Alternatives (TEA) Education and Workforce Development Program continued to expand their impact in 2025. The Workforce Development team implemented initiatives geared toward empowering Native communities with the skills, tools, and opportunities needed to lead in the energy transition and support energy sovereignty.
Tribes Do Not Need a Greenlight to Build Renewable Energy
Staff Opinion. This article examines how outdated policies and practices of rural electric cooperatives continue to impede Tribal renewable energy projects, despite Tribes’ inherent sovereignty over energy decisions on their lands. Using the Upper Sioux Indian Community’s solar project as a case study, it highlights the critical role Public Utilities Commissions play—and often fail to play—in respecting Tribal authority, addressing inequities, and reforming regulatory processes. The piece calls for structural change to ensure Tribal Nations can develop clean energy without unnecessary barriers and affirms that renewable energy development on Tribal lands is an internal Tribal matter.
Tribal Energy Alternatives Awards $3.6 Million to 26 Tribes Through the TSAF Grant Program
[Denver, CO] — Tribal Energy Alternatives (TEA) proudly announces the award of $3.6 million in grants through its Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund (TSAF) program, supporting 26 Tribal Nations and organizations across the United States. The funding will advance clean energy development, build local capacity, and strengthen Tribal sovereignty through sustainable energy solutions.