Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
miEnergy North America is a partnership between miEnergy Inc. and ten Saskatchewan First Nations. Photo courtesy miEnergy.
SASKATOON – The nine First Nations under the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) and Mistawasis Nêhiyawak have formed a new renewable energy company called miEnergy North America. It is a partnership among 10 First Nations, and with the existing, privately-owned miEnergy Inc.
The announcement was made in Saskatoon on Feb. 10, headquarters for the original miEnergy.
miEnergy North America is a separate entity from miEnergy, which has been in operation for 19 years. In August, 2020, the original miEnergy announced that Saturn Power Inc., had elected miEnergy to serve as general contractor for Saskatchewan’s first utility-scale solar photovoltaic power project, east of Swift Current. That announcement noted, “With local sub‐contractors based throughout the province and deep roots within Saskatchewan communities, miEnergy is an ideal local partner in the construction of the Highfield Solar Project during the COVID‐19 pandemic.”
That project is currently under construction and slated to be commissioned in the spring of 2022.
Saskatoon-based miEnergy has offices in Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary. It even offers Air Miles. The company has done over 1,000 projects, according to miEnergy president and CEO Kevin Bergeron. That number includes geothermal as well, but the majority of their work these days is solar.
The new entity, miEnergy North America, will be targeting Indigenous communities throughout Canada and the United States Bergeron told Pipeline Online on Feb. 11, “The partnership allows miEnergy North America to benefit indigenous communities, not only that are owned through the partnership, but also the all the communities across Western Canada and North America that have a desire to solve some energy needs that they have. And an Indigenous-owned company is pretty well-positioned to deal with other Indigenous communities to be able to do that.”
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Asked if First Nations in Canada, and tribes in the United States are the lead market they will be looking at, Bergeron said, “Yeah, absolutely.”
He expects that will be a good portion of the work that they do.
The original miEnergy is currently working on a 10 megawatt solar project for Cowessess First Nation and Elemental Energy, located beside the wind turbine Cowessess installed in 2013.
miEnergy North America is a partnership between miEnergy Inc. and ten Saskatchewan First Nations. Photo courtesy miEnergy.
MLTC Tribal Chief Richard Ben said, “miEnergy North America aspires to be a leader in the renewable energy sector and will be focused on the development of solar power and related projects in Saskatchewan and throughout North America. The new enterprise will proudly promote and create sustainable, innovative renewable energy solutions for utilities, businesses, communities and Indigenous communities everywhere.”
Meadow Lake Tribal Council is made up of:
- Birch Narrows Dene Nation
- Buffalo River Dene Nation
- Canoe Lake Cree First Nation
- Clearwater River Dene Nation
- English River First Nation
- Flying Dust First Nation
- Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation
- Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation
- Waterhen Lake First Nation
This business partnership will also create direct financial returns and employment opportunities for the nine MLTC First Nations and Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, and is an opportunity for these communities to realize their individual aspirations for renewable energy projects, according to the press release.
Mistawasis Nêhiyawak Chief Daryl Watson is excited to work with great people and strong allies toward mutual, long-term benefits. He said, “The benefits for Mistawasis Nêhiyawak — financial, employment and training opportunities — will have long-term impact. We look forward to building relationships with our partners, who already have success in this industry, to develop one of the best renewable energy companies in North America.”
The creation of this new business is also a strong statement of reconciliation by each of the partners through commercial enterprise, and demonstrates their commitment to a cleaner, greener environment, the release said.
Mistawasis Nêhiyawak is located on Treaty 6 Territory 120 kilometres north of Saskatoon, near the community of Leask, SK. Misty Ventures Inc. is the economic development corporation owned by Mistawasis Nêhiyawak. The chief and council act as shareholder representatives for Misty Ventures Inc.
“We are very proud to work with Mistawasis Nêhiyawak and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council leadership to provide, together, more sustainable energy solutions to communities in Saskatchewan and beyond our borders. The opportunity to contribute to this partnership, which will create jobs and revenue for these communities, is directly aligned with our values as a company. These investments will create meaningful, long-term benefits for our communities and our planet, for decades to come,” said Bergeron.
Tribal Chief Ben also acknowledged all the shareholders involved in creating miEnergy North America.
“First, to our friends at Mistawasis Nêhiyawak – represented by Chief Daryl Watson and CEO of Misty Ventures, Robert Daniels – we look forward to working closely with you on this exciting project. Second, I wish to acknowledge the contribution and commitment from MLTC’s own nine First Nation chiefs, our elders and all the MLTC membership. This new company represents the future for our children. And last, thank you to the miEnergy team, including Kevin Bergeron, Brennan Kilmister and David Anderson for your enthusiasm and openness to facilitate the formation of this important partnership.”
Asked about the low output of Alberta’s 12 grid-connected solar power generation facilities over the month of January, Bergeron said, “What I can tell you is the customers that we install solar for, and the systems that we design, certainly factor in the capacity throughout the summertime and the wintertime and we have some successful projects and happy customers.
“I certainly can’t comment on utility-scale electrical grid that I quite honestly don’t have the information to be able to comment.”
“We’re excited about this partnership. And we think it’s a first of its kind that certainly is going to provide some benefits to indigenous communities that probably have never had the opportunity to be involved in this industry like they’ll have the opportunity now. So we’re really excited to continue providing those benefits to folks across North America,” Bergeron concluded.
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