Skwah First Nation powers the community with solar energy

When visitors come to Skwah First Nation near Chilliwack, community energy champion Slade Williams says the nation's mission to shrink its carbon footprint is easily seen — because you can see it from the rooftops.

"It is great that everybody who drives into our community or even near our community, they can see the solar," said Williams.

The band recently finished installing solar panel arrays on its community hall, an administration building and its preschool.

Williams said the project, three years in the making, will help reduce the community's carbon emissions and save money on its B.C. Hydro bills.

"We want to show others in the Fraser Valley and the Stó:lō territory that this is the way to be," he said.

A B.C. Hydro spokesperson said a July 2024 rebate program for solar panels in Indigenous communities was so popular the utility paused it by December that year.

"We received hundreds of applications in the first six months from nations all across the province," said Susie Rieder.

"And because of that high demand, the Indigenous offer is currently paused, just while we work on reintroducing an updated version."

In lieu of that program, Rieder said communities can still apply to the utility's mainstream solar and battery programs.

Skwah First Nation is on the B.C. Hydro grid and can take advantage of "self-generation."

"The amount of power that we use will be offset with the amount of power that we generate," said Williams.

Meanwhile, many off-grid reserves and communities are still reliant on diesel, which remains to be a fuel with numerous uses.

"It's quite a remarkable energy source, but it can be very expensive and it can be dirty and also noisy," said Heather Exner-Pirot, director of energy, natural resources and environment, Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

"And so there's always a desire to reduce dependence on diesel. But again, having all those qualities in another energy source has been difficult to find."