This report summarizes discussions and recommendations from the California Tribal Energy Resiliency Conference held on May 19-20, 2021. The conference was hosted by the California Energy Commission (CEC) in coordination with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the Strategic Growth Council (SGS), and California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), with participation from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy Policy and Program (IEPP). This conference informed California Native American Tribes about state and federal programs and opportunities for increasing tribal energy resiliency through presentations and dialogue about funding incentives, renewable energy initiatives, and projects for climate resiliency, among other things. In addition, the dialogue informed state and federal leaders about tribal perspectives, needs, and objectives. Finally, a conference participant activity, the composing of a letter to “the Seven Generations,” was conducted with the results appended to this report.
The conference highlighted resiliency projects supported by grant funding from the joint CEC and SGC Tribal Government Challenge, the CEC Electric Program Investment Charge, and CNRA Expanding Nature-Based Solutions Initiative. Additionally, the conference showcased the joint SGC and CEC Tribal Energy and Climate Change Gap Analysis and CEC Empower Innovation online networking platform.