Casino Enterprise Management

The National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) has embarked on a new initiative that is sure to create multiple benefits for Indian country and beyond. Several years ago, my daughter, Margaret, started a meaningful and lasting conversation with me that began a new frontier for NIGA. The essence of the conversations were centered around why  Indian country couldn’t begin saving valuable and dwindling energy resources and even more valuable dollars. As you may already recognize, Indian gaming is a robust industry that holds more than 30,000 hotel rooms and constitutes more than $40 billion in revenues. This industry is heavily dependent upon significant energy resources. These facts have dynamically changed our tribal communities and economies in some select areas. However, not every tribe has a strategic location to become a successful gaming tribe.

Virtually every tribe is an energy tribe by virtue of holding or developing vast conventional or renewable energy resources or even consuming energy constitutes that tribe as an “energy tribe.” Those conversations started by Margaret Stevens began NIGA’s Climate Change Initiative. The Initiative is spearheaded by four national co-chairs; Honorable Chair from the Quinault Nation, Fawn Sharp, Haskell Indian Nation’s Professor Daniel Wildcat, Merv Tano from the Indigenous Institute for Resource Management and Roger Fragua with Cota Holdings. The Climate Change Initiative is as much about both the environment and the economy.

Native Americans have always had a strong relationship with the environment, and that relationship is the substance of our identity and the core of the traditional and cultural values. The elements sanctify our prayers—water, fire, plants and the land are used as symbols during our dialogue with the creator. This is why Indian country has known that preservation of health of Mother Earth is of the upmost in responsibilities and is not taken lightly. It is a common belief of our Native American elders that our actions today must always take into consideration the effects of future generations of our Indian people.

NIGA realized that Indian country is in peril of what very well may be its greatest challenge, climate change. NIGA recognizes that climate change has impacts, politically, economically and socially, on our communities. Since, it has always been NIGA’s mission to advance the lives of Indian people in these areas, it is only fitting that NIGA play a leadership role in this green revolution. In our efforts to address this ever-growing concern, we have initiated the NIGA Climate Change Committee to develop advice to the leadership from NIGA to consider recommendations on the subject matter. It is envisioned that the climate change committee will be responsible for directing NIGA and its constituents toward an environmentally friendly association. The Initiative seeks to create a National Summit on environmental issues in Indian country that will showcase the now several positive “green” case studies from all across Indian country, not limited to but including Warm Springs, Barona Band of Mission Indians, Mystic Lake and others.

Each one of the aforementioned tribal case studies demonstrates several different techniques or technological approaches in their respective implementation. For instance, Barona Resort & Casino recycles virtually every significant waste stream and reuses the waste as part of the operations on a successful economic basis. In addition to the highly successful recycling program, Barona was the first tribal facility in Indian country with two Gold LEED (Leadership in Environment and Energy Design) awards.

The first order of business for the committee is to consider will be the development of a proposed mission statement that will address the following: to act on the opportunity for gaming operations to model eco-friendly design and non-carbon based energy use features to address climate change impacts on Indian country. These individuals will act as sustainability directors of NIGA. Their responsibility is to supervise the Climate Change Committee and design, implement and maintain sustainability efforts. As immediate action is necessary, NIGA asks them to initiate these following projects:

1) Compose goals and objectives and a strategic plan
2) Create and implement the NIGA Climate Change Committee website
3) Create a green casino case study targeting savings of 100 mw of energy savings
4) Design National Summit on Climate Change and other NIGA events
5) Design and implement workshops on the three following tangible offerings: Tariff Assessments, Energy Audits and Renewable Energy Audits

The most immediate initiative for tribal consideration and action is the development of several tribal energy efficiency case studies in different climate zones. The proposed energy audits are envisioned to serve Indian country as a model or template that could be replicated by other tribes in the same regions. Each different climate zone—Northwest Coastal, Puget Sound, Eastern Washington/Oregon, Northern California, Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Rocky Mountain, Northern Plains, Great Lakes, Oklahoma, South East and North East—will have a tribe or two that might consider becoming a case study tribe for the NIGA Energy Audit Initiative.

Each tribe that considers having an energy audit would allow a presentation by NIGA co-chair(s) and corporate partners that outlines the energy audit process. The proposed process entails three separate and distinct steps: a pre-audit data collection, the actual audit and a decision to implement proposed energy savings measures. The initial data collection starts with a general presentation on the energy auditing process including the collection of energy bills for analysis and interviews with facility staff to create a specific plan for each facility. Once a strategy for implementation is agreed upon, the actual audit will commence. The audit consists of a physical walk through of the tribal facilities and review of blue prints and energy bills by a set of highly trained technical engineers a set of recommendations follows.

The recommendations are generally created for tribal leadership decision-making and prioritization. Each specific audit scenario and outcomes will be very different. However, the business proposal for the audits is gener­­ally the same in that the tribe can elect to pay for the audit on a pure cost basis, usually hourly rate or a square footage rate depending on what is agreed upon in advance through the development of a specific proposal. The other method of contracting the audits is on a shared savings basis where the Energy Services Company, or ESCO, folds the cost of the audits into the implementation of the retrofits and the audit costs can be amortized over a number of years through a shared savings program. Either method is offered through the NIGA Initiative. The NIGA co-chairs expect to find significant savings of both monies and energy through the auditing process and hope that tribes will agree to move forward in the Initiative.

NIGA is committed to the Climate Change Initiative and has begun formalizing steps to develop a program for the tribal gaming industry to be leaders in sustainability. NIGA is focused on examining the core issues that are driving climate change. In doing so, NIGA is taking a holistic approach by addressing the major environmental concerns that our tribal nation has. To be successful, we must everyday work diligently to protect and conserve all natural resources. We should look at increasing energy efficiency, producing clean energy and, of course, stop deforestation of our lands. These changes and efforts should be rewarded, acknowledged and celebrated by our tribal communities.

NIGA is also taking a creative approach to diversify what sustainability can do outside of the gaming industry. Very aware of our nation’s economic climate, NIGA’s attention is also focused on the financial sustainability within Indian gaming. In examining what it will take to become more energy efficient and sustainable throughout tribal country, it is important that energy production is evaluated as a means of additional viable source revenue.    

NIGA’s vision is to not only work toward energy efficiency and creating clean energy but collectively looking beyond, resulting in a truly sustainable Indian county for our Indian people, our environment, and be leaders in the energy industry. We can do so by educating our people in a clean energy technical field, raise awareness throughout each tribe, produce green jobs for the unemployed and generate a continued source of revenue for our tribes. NIGA is also committed to working with Native veterans on green jobs inititives through existing channels and programs. Finally, I call on the Tribal Leadership, enterprise management and the industry to work cooperatively with NIGA on forging a new frontier toward a sustainable future in partnership with the industry and governmental entities. As I am confident by pulling together, we can all make a difference.

Ernie Stevens Jr. is the Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association and a member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. He can be reached at (202) 546-7711.