Business
Morongo Honored with National Awards by Two Tribal Organizations
National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development and the Native American Finance Officers Association have both recognized Morongo Transmission LLC.
The Morongo Band of Mission Indians’ formation of Morongo Transmission LLC as a precedent-setting energy venture was recently honored as the 2023 Government Impact Deal of the Year at the Native American Finance Officers Association’s (NAFOA) 41st Annual Conference in Washington D.C.
The award came shortly after Morongo was given the 2023 American Indian Leadership Award by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) at the Res 2023 conference in Las Vegas.
NCAIED Award: Morongo Tribal Vice Chair James Siva (right) accepts the 2023 American Indian Leadership Award from Lillian Sparks Robinson of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.
The two awards recognized Morongo’s innovation and leadership in launching Morongo Transmission LLC, a project through which Morongo became the first Native American tribe in the nation to be authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as a participating transmission owner, or an entity that owns or operates power lines.
“We are thrilled to be recognized by two prestigious national organizations in tribal economic development for creating an innovative new vehicle by which our Tribe entered the energy transmission industry,” said Morongo Tribal Chairman Charles Martin. “The formation of Morongo Transmission was precedent-setting and offers a model to tribes and utilities across the nation for developing critically-needed infrastructure.”
In a deal that was 10 years in the making, Morongo joined with Axium Infrastructure to create Morongo Transmission, which then partnered with Southern California Edison to upgrade 48 miles of powerlines crossing Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
The project tripled the capacity of the powerlines and connected renewable solar, wind and battery energy resources in desert regions of Riverside and Imperial counties to population centers, furthering California’s clean energy mandates and strengthening the stability of Southern California’s power grid.
Morongo secured approvals from FERC, the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). The approval of Morongo Transmission’s application to join CAISO marked the first time that a federally-recognized tribe had been authorized to join the entity overseeing the operation of California’s bulk electric power system, transmission lines, and electricity market.