The Voice of the Lakota Nation runs on Renewable Energy
On the road that leads into the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota there are farm fields layered with hay bales and horses, some of which escape on the occasion and trot gently alongside passing vehicles. On the outside of the main town of Porcupine, KILI Radio Station sits on top of a hill with scattered sagebrush and prairie grass. The station is surrounded by solar panels both on the hillside and attached to the building, and the entrance opens to a wind turbine. The combination of these renewable energy sources powers KILI Radio Station entirely. Over its history, the station had seen power outages, lack of funding, and had moments where they struggled to stay on the air. Switching to renewable energy has allowed the station to remain on the air as a reliable source of information for the community.
The commitment to renewable energy started in 2005 when Henry Red Cloud set up a solar hot air furnace at the station. The switch to renewables was not always easy for the station and they had several bumps along the road to where they are now. Their first wind turbine was a 20-year-old unit that failed to deliver consistent power, but it didn't diminish their interest in renewable energy.
In 2013, Henry Red Cloud and Lakota Solar installed an additional 3KW solar array on the roof of the station. This work was made possible from a grant from the nonprofit, Trees, Water, and People, as well as assistance from the Brattleboro Rotary Club, and a solar installation teaching class who helped with the installation.
KILI received a $100,000 grant from the Department of Interior's Native Energy through working with Honor the Earth They used the money to buy a new 10KW Bergey wind turbine for the station in 2017.
In 2019, Henry’s Red Cloud Renewable Energy foundation received a gift of 80 solar panels from Panasonic, he in turn donated the panels to KILI Radio and with the help of USDA’s Rural Development, the South Dakota Community Foundation and Henry Red Cloud’s seminar on solar arrays. They were able to install a 20KW solar array on the side of the hill below the station and put up a protective fence around it.
With the 2KW and 3KW solar arrays and the 10KW wind turbine, the station was able to cut the monthly electricity bill from $2,500-3,000 each month to $1,400-1,500 per month. With the addition of the 20KW solar array, the monthly electric bill runs from $600-1,200 a month depending on the season.
The station made a commitment to jump into renewable energy to hopefully deal with the high electrical costs and to be a role model for the community. While it hasn’t been smooth sailing (high winds have knocked out solar panels and alternators and blades have failed on the wind turbine) the station Manager, Tom Casey still says that overall, the use of renewable energy at KILI has been a huge benefit and they look forward to more opportunities to pursue renewables at KILI while encouraging others to do the same.