After a historic flooding event in 2016, which left the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa without power and critical infrastructure, the tribe committed themselves to installing microgrids to ensure clean, resilient power on tribal lands. In May 2021, the tribe commissioned three building level microgrids, incorporating more than 520 kW of solar and over 1MWh of battery storage, the largest battery system to date in the state of Wisconsin. The project is named Ishkonige Nawadide, which means "it catches fire" in Anishinaabemowin. 
 
Dan Wiggins is the visionary who led the team to implement these projects. He's been working for the tribe for over 10 years as a tribal energy manager and air quality technician, with expertise from utility scale infrastructure to residential energy efficiency, and now three tremendously successful microgrids. 
 
It's been my great pleasure to work with Dan on his energy team to plan, design, and realize his vision for resilient tribal energy and energy sovereignty. This conversation is an extension of our professional partnership, and our friendship: fiery, passionate, fun, and very committed to doing projects when they are the right thing to do. 

Referenced in this episode:

Episode 1.06 with Liana Cassar on Energy Policy
Episode 1.09 with Katherine Lucey on Air Quality

Quotables

"We all answer to somebody, whether it's leadership, whether it's our children, or whether it's the community we reside in. Really listening to all of those resources is the right thing to do." 

"The way I approach renewable energy is that you have do first do it because it's the right thing to do. That has to be the #1 goal for any renewable energy project."

"Strategic planning is the fun part of project development. You get to take everybody's ideas, throw them in a blender, and hope something magic comes out." 

This week’s guest

Daniel Wiggins Jr is a Bad River Tribal Member and the Mashkiiziibii (Bad River) Natural Resource Department’s Air Quality Technician (AQT). He has worked for the Tribe for nearly 10 years as the AQT and has had oversight of the Tribe’s Renewable Energy Activities since 2017. 

He was recently tasked as Project Lead for the Ishkonige Nawadide Solar Microgrid Project, which installed over 500 kilowatts of solar and 1,000 kilowatt hours of batteries at three tribal facilities. 

The Tribe’s energy projects are planned and executed on the Tribe’s ability to exercise energy sovereignty, and eventually reach the Tribe’s energy vision, “to empower and enable the community to move towards energy independence.”

Resources:

Connect with the Mashkiiziibii Natural Resource Departmen on Facebook.

Check out Bad River’s website.

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Thank you for listening. See you at the whiteboard!