May 12, 2026
The Coalition of Large Tribes is pleased to announce our establishment of our newest committee: The COLT Tribal Transmission Committee (CTTC). COLT is the national advocacy group for issues facing American Indian Tribes with land bases exceeding 100,000 acres. In forming the CTTC, COLT is recognizing that large land-base tribes have the potential to make a major contribution to fulfilling the nation’s energy production needs, and at the same time generate transformative economic development for the tribes and their neighboring communities.
But COLT tribes also face unique challenges—due to decades of underinvestment in tribal infrastructure, and national power grid planning processes that have long excluded tribes—the national power grid on and around the reservations of many COLT tribes is old and lacks the capacity to support large-scale energy generation and the energy-intensive businesses of the future. The COLT Tribal Transmission Committee is committed to making change that will enable COLT member tribes to unleash the full energy potential these tribes possess, as they individually determine based on their sovereignty, as laid out in the CTTC Mission Statement:
Tribal lands contain some of the finest energy resources and desirable locations for large load additions found anywhere in the United States. For the first time in our history, tribes have the opportunity to achieve transformative economic development and energy sovereignty by developing these resources as each tribal government determines is best for their people. The COLT Tribal Transmission Committee creates a unified, powerful voice for tribes across the country to advocate for change and to overcome the lack of adequate electric transmission infrastructure that is preventing tribes from achieving these goals.
COLT is proud to take on a leadership role in addressing this critical issue for tribes and for the nation through the COLT Tribal Transmission Committee. COLT will throw its full support behind the efforts of the CTTC, which will advise and make recommendations to the COLT Board of Directors, comprised of one voting member from each COLT tribe. We urge federal and state decision-makers, foundations and public interest groups, and industry participants to support the COLT Tribal Transmission Committee and the COLT policy initiatives on which CTTC advises and leads.
J Garret Renville, COLT Chairman
Chairman, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation