Daines Emphasizes Need to Boost Tribal Energy in Senate Indian Affairs Hearing

• September 11, 2025

U.S. SENATE - U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke with Mr. David Conrad, Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs at the U.S. Department of Energy. Daines emphasized the need to expand energy production in tribal communities and the importance of the Crow Revenue Act and the Crow Tribe Water Settlement Amendment Act, which will promote tribal sovereignty and enhance economic development.

Watch the full exchange HERE.

Daines emphasized the need to expand energy production in tribal communites:

Daines: The purpose of today's hearing is to discuss unleashing Indian energy. It's a great topic. We've been talking about this for a lot of years in Montana, and it's very much in line with President Trump's goal of securing American energy dominance. We need more reliable, affordable energy. I remember the days before AI, when you meet with the great tech leaders in this country the first thing they would talk about is that one of their constraints was not enough skilled software developers and programmers to meet the needs of these growing businesses. Today, the number one issue they bring up is energy and not enough energy. And no matter whose numbers you look at, it's somewhere between 50-80 percent more power we're going to need in the next 20 years than what we currently use today. But reliable affordable energy is critical, not only just to meet the needs of the economy going forward, but for economic development, and particularly in some of our rural communities in Montana on our seven Indian reservations. As we say in Montana, it's a beautiful state. Grateful I got to grow up there and still call it home, But oftentimes, you speak with Montanans and they say we've got poverty with a view. We've got to do better here [Montana] in economic development. And by enhancing an all -of-the-above energy portfolio centered on baseload power sources, that can mean the difference between life and death during some of our bitter winter months. Montana has seen a number of success stories coming from important collaborations between tribes and the Department of Energy, the Office of Indian Energy was helpful in providing the Confederated, Salish, and Kootenai tribes with funding and technical assistance to acquire the operation of the SKQ Dam. This helped the tribe create a number of very good high-paying jobs, generating affordable hydroelectric renewable power to sell on the open market. The Crow tribe in southeastern Montana are also trying to expand their energy capacity. Montana sits on the largest recoverable coal reserves in the nation. We're famous for a lot of things, great skiing, wonderful streams to fly fish on, but some folks don't recognize that Montana has more recoverable coal than any state in the United States. There's also large tracks on the Crow Reservation. My good friend Chairman Frank Whiteclay of the Crow Tribe will tell you that coal mining is a crucial economic driver for his tribe. The Crow Revenue Act would authorize a land swap to allow the tribe to control subsurface holdings within their reservation. This would put the tribe in the driver's seat to make decisions about their own land, a very important word called sovereignty, and provide a key revenue stream to promote economic development. The Crow are also eager to develop hydropower capabilities on the Yellowtail Afterbay dam. The Crow Tribe Water Settlement Amendments Act extends the hydropower authorization with the Bureau of Reclamation to ensure the tribe has enough time to complete the project and this is key because time is running out.

Daines on the importance of increasing energy revenues in tribal communities:

Daines: First question is for Deputy Director Conrad. Would you agree that increasing energy revenues, no matter the source, is important for tribes to both bolster their economies and enhance tribal sovereignty?

Conrad: Thank you, Senator, for the question. And yes, of course.

Daines: A follow-up on that, thank you. Would you agree and support our efforts that Congress should pass legislation that would allow tribes to develop their own resources, whether it's coal or hydropower?

Conrad: Absolutely. It's that tenant of tribal sovereignty and tribal energy sovereignty that they have The right to develop what they have for the benefit of their people.

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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins