Tribe Plans Wind Power Plant in Arizona

"The Navajo Nation announced Thursday that it will partner with a Boston company to capitalize on the blustery conditions prevailing on the high mesas of northern Arizona. The Diné Wind Project, which would be the first commercial wind farm in the state, calls for Citizens Energy Corp. to invest millions of dollars to build the energy-collecting towers."

"The enterprise was sealed this month by Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., other key tribal officials and Citizens Energy Chairman Joseph P. Kennedy II, a former congressman and son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. The agreement comes after nearly two years of pre-development work and marks another step in the Navajo Nation's move to exploit renewable-power sources for so-called clean energy."

"As many as 300 turbine towers would be erected in several locations between Flagstaff and Tuba City, with first-phase completion in about three years."

"The development would be among the largest wind-power installations in the country, said Bob Gough, secretary of the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy in Rosebud, S.D."