"It's a seventeen square mile parcel of dry, windswept land in the Navajo Nation that isn't near very much.

Unless you count the transmission lines connecting to a nearby coal-burning power plant in Arizona.

Renewable developer NativeOne--along with the LeChee Chapter of the Navajo Nation and a Navajo family--have embarked on a plan to build a solar power plant on that parcel of real estate and in the process underscore the growing opportunity for erecting alternative energy installations on Native American lands. Under the right circumstances, these deals can lead to lower prices for developers and a jobs, royalties and revenue for the tribes.

"We want to make sure that whatever we build creates jobs and income and is eventually owned by the tribe," said Don Lyons, CEO of NativeOne Financial Holdings, the parent company, and a member of the Morongo band of Mission Indians.

In Alaska, Laurus Energy is working with the Cook Inlet Region Inc., (CIRI) a Native American corporation, to build an underground coal gasification facility in Alaska. CIRI also has invested in wind farms, a geothermal project and the Westly Group, the VC firm headed up by Steve Westly.

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe owns a piece of Solix Biofuels, a Colorado start-up that wants to produce diesel from algae. Elster, meanwhile, recently signed a deal to install smart grid equipment and meters in the Navajo nation."

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Research & Analysis: Native Americans: A New Player in Renewables? (Greentech Media 9/21)