Leaders from six Sioux groups announced today that they plan to build a massive wind farm on tribal land in South Dakota. Speaking at the annual Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in Chicago, representatives from the Cheyenne River, Oglala, Crow Creek, Rosebud, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, and Yankton Sioux tribes said that the planned development would generate between one and two gigawatts of power annually and could pour as much as $3 billion into South Dakota’s economy.
The tribes plan to raise raise initial funding via a campaign on , and will finance the rest of the project through the sale of bonds. “The Sioux Wind Project will demonstrate that community-support and community-funding can help push renewable-energy projects forward,” Rally CEO Tom Serres said in a press release.
According to the , nearly 24% of South Dakota’s power came from wind in 2012, more than any state except for Iowa.