April 8, 2010
On April 1, 2010, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation celebrated our broad range of sustainability work with the Celebrating a Sustainable Future event held at Cache Creek Casino Resort. Representative Wally Herger, Republican of California, joined more than 100 community members, elected officials, partners, educators, environmentalists, farmers, ranchers and Yocha Dehe tribal members.
The event program featured a blessing by Tribal Council Member Leland Kinter in the Tribe’s Native Patwin language, a song by Yocha Dehe Wintun Academy students and a first-hand look at the Tribe’s environmental work.
At the event, the Tribe was presented with the California Trane High-Performance Building Showcase award for our state-of-the-art thermal energy storage tank, as well as a rebate check for $1.1 million through the Shift and Save program with PG&E. Tribal Chairman Marshall McKay told attendees that the rebate would support the Tribe’s future environmental work.
The Tribe has “been very, very proactive over the last five or six years,” in terms of implementing energy efficiency and alternative energy projects, PG&E Senior Account Executive John Mabry told the Sacramento Business Journal. “They are probably one of the most progressive customers that PG&E has” in terms of taking advantage of technologies that save energy.