CORNING, CA – The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians has partnered with OATI to advance the tribe’s energy independence by integrating OATI’s GridMind® microgrid and distributed energy resource controller into the tribal community’s two-part solar and battery microgrid system.
The project, which broke ground in 2024, will provide renewable power, reduce peak energy demand and costs, and support critical community loads. The two microgrid sites combine 4.5 MW of solar panels with 21 MWh of battery energy storage, allowing the tribal community to operate independently of the local grid during utility outages and improving resilience against wildfire risks in Tehama County and the surrounding region.
The project is backed by state and federal grants, including funds from FEMA and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, and is among the tribal energy projects in the region drawing on those sources to expand local energy resilience.
Working with tribal energy developer Woven Energy, the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians will integrate GridMind into both microgrid sites to manage how each system produces, stores, and uses power through automated, rule-based controls. OATI will design and implement the system so that the two microgrids can operate together or independently, with the tribe ultimately aiming to use GridMind as the basis for an independent, tribally owned utility.
“Energy is the foundation that everything else in our region depends on – homes, businesses, healthcare systems, emergency services, and the natural systems we have a responsibility to protect,” said Tribal CEO Damon Safranek. “This microgrid is about making sure the tribe and our neighbors have reliable power during the moments that matter most, whether that’s a wildfire, a heat wave, or a peak demand event on the grid. For Paskenta, energy independence is inseparable from our values around stewardship of the land and the long-term well-being of our community. Building a tribal utility from the ground up, integrating solar, storage, and advanced grid controls across two sites, is genuinely complex work, and the stakes for our community are too high to learn as we go. That’s why working alongside OATI and Woven Energy has mattered so much. They bring decades of proven experience in critical energy infrastructure for rural communities, and that experience is what makes our ambition for this project a reality.”
OATI provides microgrid consulting, design, deployment, and control services across different energy resource types, with a focus on scalability and integration with broader grid operations. Its GridMind platform supports revenue from grid services, market participation, and resilience value.
“We’ve worked with multiple tribal communities to build self-sustaining energy systems, and we’re proud to continue our work with the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians and Woven Energy, especially in an area where energy independence can provide life-saving reliability,” said Sasan Mokhtari, President and CEO of OATI. “We look forward to increasing adoption of tribal-led microgrids to establish localized energy hubs and provide them with the tools to secure financial self-sufficiency.”
