Green Power Solar Grant Awarded to Samish Indian Nation

Puget Sound Energy is funding a solar installation project to support the Samish Indian Nation's efforts in accessible clean energy.

ANACORTES, Wash., July 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the Puget Sound Energy (PSE)'s efforts to support organizations that serve families and individuals in the community, they have awarded over $900,000 in total grant funding through their Green Power and Solar Choice programs. Samish Indian Nation is proud to be a recipient of this round's competitive funding.

Samish operates on the foundation of protecting citizens and respecting the land that has connected them to their ancestors since time immemorial. As a recipient of this grant, the Samish Indian Nation is aligned with the PSE's plans to address providing cleaner energy, lowering energy-related operating costs and making a push to a more inclusive clean energy future.

"This solar array is important to our goals of reducing our carbon footprint and increasing our Nation's climate change resiliency plans," said Samish Indian Nation Chairman, Tom Wooten. "We're proud to be a recipient of this funding and appreciate being able to contribute to our community in this way."

The Green Power Solar Grant, funded by PSE's Green Power and Solar Choice customers, brings local solar projects to PSE's electric service area while providing support to grant recipients through lower utility bills for low-income or Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and the organizations that serve them. Samish will be installing their solar project on the Cannery Building, which houses their Health and Human Services department.

The Samish have always been an island people. Prior to contact by the European nations, the Tribe inhabited the San Juan Islands. The Samish in pre-contact times moved from island to island depending on the season and the available harvest, with permanent winter village longhouses. The first recorded instance of European contact in the Northwest occurred in 1792 between Samish inhabitants of Guemes Island and the Spanish. The Samish Tribe is a Coast Salish tribe of Indians. Our aboriginal territory stretches over a seven-county region of northwest Washington, ranging from the Cascades to the western shores of the San Juan Islands — bounded by the southeast tip of San Juan Island, Deception Pass, Padilla Bay, Samish Bay, Chuckanut Bay, and the northern end of Lopez Island.

Media Contact: Katie Lindquist for the Samish Indian Nation, [email protected] or 719-352-1116.

SOURCE Samish Indian Nation