PASKENTA — A $32 million solar project that will power the Rolling Hills Casino and some of the surrounding infrastructure is underway in Tehama County.
Jesse Gutierrez drove 12 hours from Las Vegas to visit family and attend the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday in Paskenta. Gutierrez’s wife is a Nomlaki tribe member. He said the tribe has greatly helped the community and his children.
“We come every year and see the progress,” Gutierrez said.
LaSandra Lemus, right, her daughter Juniper Lemus, center, and Juniper’s fiancé, Jio Ramirez, left, attend the solar and storage microgrid ground breaking event at the Paskenta Microgrid in Paskenta, California on Thursday April 11, 2024. (Molly Myers/Enterprise-Record)
The California Energy Commission proposed the project to the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians. According to the CEC Tribal Program profile, “Through these programs, CEC aims to foster effective government-to-government collaboration with Tribal communities in California, as well as promote clean energy and energy efficiency in these communities.”
In total, the CEC plans to serve 170 tribes in California. The Nomlaki tribe is now the ninth California tribe to begin working toward complete solar energy.
Making the transition to solar will “reduce the tribe’s carbon footprint by 6.6 million pounds of (carbon dioxide) per year,” Paskenta Enterprises Corporation CEO Damon Safranek said.
CEC Chairman David Hochschild began his remarks by recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom’s apology to the Native Americans of California on behalf of the state for the genocides carried out against them.
“I truly believe in my heart, that today in our time, we can take steps that are going to create benefits for generations and … are going to bend the arc of history toward Justice,” Hochschild said.
At $32 million, to the best of Hochschild’s knowledge, this is the single largest energy grant ever made in the United States.
Independence
Closing his remarks, Hochschild praised the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians for their efforts in the project. To acknowledge their work he asked them to stand up to be applauded, but in a slip of the tongue called them “Pechanga people,” the name of a different tribe, instead of “Paskenta people.”
“Pechanga?” multiple people in the crowd murmured.
Hochschild quickly realized the mistake and apologized. Paskenta members laughed and began to stand as the crowd applauded them.
“All right Pechanga people,” said Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians Chairman Andrew “Dru” Alejandre, prompting the crowd to laugh. “Just had to grill him once more.”
Alejandre said the project is helping the sovereign nation of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians become just that, more sovereign.
“That’s a really important piece to us to be able to be self governing, and not have to rely on an outside entity to provide power for us,” Alejandre said.
In addition to the independence this project provides the tribe, it exemplifies the tribe’s sustainable values, he said: “We have to honor the earth just as it honors us, with all the things that it nourishes us with.”
Alejandre said this project is important for sustaining future generations, and spoke lovingly of his community.
“It’s a small community, very rural, but it’s beautiful country, beautiful land,” Alejandre said. “And my people have been here from the beginning. We’ve always been here this is this is our home, and we’re proud of it.”
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Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians tribe member LaSandra Lemus echoed Alejandre’s sentiment that gaining more independence was important. She also said that working with the government in a positive way is “good to build trust.”
More than anything, she want’s to build a sense of community.
“My whole thing is to see that everyone comes together as a group,” Lemus said.
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