10 low-income Rosebud Sioux families got solar panels on their homes; the systems cut their tribal housing authority's electric bill by $8,122 in one year

Ten families on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota didn't expect much from a rooftop solar project. All they wanted was cheaper power bills. But the panels did more than that, according to a project report from the Office of Indian Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. In the first full year of use, the tribe’s housing authority saved $8,122 on electricity. That might not be a huge number in the sphere of national energy policy, but on a reservation where every dollar counts, the savings matter. This small-scale story shows how clean energy can quietly change lives for communities that have paid too much for power for too long.

A small project with big numbers

In 2016, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe installed 5.8-kilowatt solar systems on 10 income-qualified homes, aided by a federal grant. They are small rooftop systems, not massive solar farms. Local community members weren’t just witnesses to the installation. More than 28 people from the area spent more than 690 hours of hands-on training putting up the panels. By 2018, results were in. The 10 systems lowered total electricity use to 43,654 kilowatt-hours for the year. That decrease resulted in $8,122 in savings for Sicangu Wicoti Awanyakapi, the tribe’s housing authority that pays the electric bills for these homes. The families didn’t have to change their lifestyles or cut back on heating and cooling. The panels simply did the work behind the scenes. The project was successful enough that the tribe used it as a launchpad. A follow-up project installed a larger, 149-kilowatt community solar system and rooftop panels on 13 additional homes to try to offset half or more of the area’s electric bill going forward.

Why energy costs hurt the tribal communities the most

This project matters because of a pattern seen across the country. A 2024 study titled ‘Economic potential of wind and solar in American Indian communities’ in the journal Nature Energy, led by economists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that reservations are 46% less likely to host wind farms and 110% less likely to host solar farms than similar land nearby, although many reservations are on land highly suitable for both. Even when the resources are right there, regulatory hurdles and land ownership rules make it harder for tribes to build renewable energy projects, the researchers said.

Land capable of producing cheap, local power for tribal families often remains unused, while those same families are burdened with high energy costs. Research from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit that studies household energy costs, helps explain why: its national report on energy burden found Native American households spend about 45 percent more of their income on energy bills than white, non-Hispanic households. In all sectors, low-income households spend about three times as much of their income on energy as higher-income households. A project like the one in Rosebud, which saved a housing authority thousands of dollars on its electric bill, speaks to that long-standing gap.

Training people, not just installing panels

One thing about the Rosebud project that stands out: it was more than just the panels. In the course of installation, some 30 local residents were given training. That kind of hands-on experience could help prepare residents for jobs in a growing solar industry, on the reservation or elsewhere. The tribe also created plans for ongoing maintenance and trained two or three housing authority staff members to keep the systems running for years to come. Maintenance training like this is an important part of many renewable energy projects — panels save money, but skills stay with people long after the installation crew has left.

Why this matters beyond one reservation

Readers do not have to live in Rosebud, South Dakota, to understand the point of this story. Across the world, low-income and marginalized populations bear the brunt of energy costs and have the least access to clean, affordable power. The Rosebud project suggests this pattern can be challenged, at least in one place, with the right funding and the right training. It can mean new skills for someone who never thought about a career in solar, and it can bring one more reservation closer to controlling its own energy future.