Southern Ute Indian Tribe Oxford Solar Project

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In 2017, the Southern Ute Tribe completed a photovoltaic (PV) system on its 681,306-acre Reservation in southwest Colorado. They chose the Oxford Tract as the best location because it did not contain any threatened or endangered species, was close to local electric cooperative La Plata Electric Association, and had elements that limited the land’s suitability for residential or agricultural use. The project site repurposes more than 10 acres of tribal land that was mostly unusable due to naturally occurring selenium contamination. The project included the development of a large PV array (a 1.3-megawatt [MW], ground-mounted solar PV system) that utilizes economies of scale to achieve a low installed cost per kilowatt (kW). The approach eliminated costly building upgrades while enabling the buildings to take full advantage of clean power even if the rooftop size and surrounding land would not. The project also furthered the Tribe's goal of reducing operating costs by providing less expensive power over the 30-year life of the solar panels. The Oxford Solar Facility is intended to reduce energy costs for the Tribe and increase local clean energy. The system’s 4,000 individual solar panels provide energy to 10 tribal buildings on the Reservation through an agreement with La Plata Electric Association. The buildings were chosen due to their location and ability to offset greater than 15 percent of fuel usage through electrical savings. The project was partially funded by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-Tribal Energy Program. The Tribe also participated in the DOE Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team Program, which provided technical assistance for the project. During its first year of operation, the Oxford Solar Facility generated 2,772,977 kWs of electricity–exceeding expectations for the initial year and representing 111.9 percent of the kWs for the buildings selected to benefit from the facility.

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