START Program

From 2012 to 2018, the Strategic Technical Assistance Response Team (START) Program assisted tribes in the 48 contiguous states and Alaska with renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The program is now complete. Through START, technical experts from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy and DOE Laboratories coordinated with tribal leadership and staff to work toward achieving project goals. 

START assistance in the 48 contiguous states addressed late-stage project development decisions, negotiations, and agreements. Tribal project teams received technical expertise and guidance on a number of topics including revenue generation and financing structures; technical viability, maintenance, measurement and verification plans, and siting; communication and outreach strategies; and developing requests for proposals with the appropriate technical guidelines and selection criteria.

START assisted rural Alaska Native communities with developing strategic energy plans, conducting energy awareness and training programs, and pursuing new energy and energy efficiency opportunities. Project teams worked together to reduce the cost and use of energy for rural Alaska consumers and communities, provide training and public education, and increase energy deployment and financing opportunities.

The START Program supported 30 tribes and Alaska Native villages with moving energy and energy efficiency closer to implementation.