The Okanagan Indian Band will benefit from the most recent round of funding under the First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund (FNCEBF).
The Okanagan Indian Band is receiving $30,000 in funding to support a Community Energy Plan and Clean Energy Opportunities Assessment Project.
Funding will be used to undertake a community energy plan within the Okanagan Indian Band’s Traditional Territory. The plan will assess solar, wind, biomass and hydropower within the reserve and traditional territory as well as energy-saving opportunities.
“It is wonderful to see this funding going to support the Okanagan Indian Band in their creation of a Community Energy Plan and commitment to an environmentally sustainable energy future,” said Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster. “This funding will provide important opportunities to use traditional territory and the Okanagan Indian Band reservation in a sustainable way.”
Since 2011, the provincial government has invested more than $5.1 million to support clean energy opportunities in over 80 Aboriginal communities across B.C., including wind energy, biomass and run-of-river hydroelectric power.
Clean-energy technology is one of the fastest growing industries in B.C., with more than 200 organizations, 68 per cent of which were formed in the past decade.
