Grand Portage addresses energy reliability

December 2025

By Joel Haskard

As winter approaches and residents prepare for potential disruptions in their electricity, staff with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa teamed up with CERTs to provide resources that support energy savings, comfort, and home safety during the coldest months of the year.

battery powered lightbulb Sharing geography with Minnesota’s North Shore near Canada, the Grand Portage Band has just over 600 residents. Because homes and businesses in this area are at the end of regional electrical distribution lines, the community regularly experiences disruptions from power outages and voltage sags. These challenges prompted the Tribe to explore long term solutions, including the deployment of smart meters, power-conditioning equipment, solar generation, and battery storage.

To help guide these efforts, Grand Portage convened an Energy Workgroup, Inaazakonenjigedaa, which loosely translates to “let’s shine a light”. This group brings together Tribal staff and community members to shape their strategic energy plan and advise Tribal energy decisions.

An evolving model and mindset

While long-term improvements are under way, residents still face immediate concerns about staying safe during winter electrical outages. As part of several short-term efforts, CERTs staff reached out to Krishna Woerheide (pictured below), environmental director at Grand Portage, to explore household resilience and energy-reducing devices, including items that provide light during outages, and materials that improve home weatherization.

Portrait of Krishna Woerheide, environmental director at Grand Portage “We focused on items that could make an immediate difference for households this winter,” says Woerheide. “These included back up light bulbs that stay on during power outages, and night lights that turn on automatically in the dark. The smart sockets help residents manage energy more efficiently, and the window insulation kits offer a simple way to keep homes warmer and reduce heating costs. Our goal was to choose practical tools that support comfort and resilience right away.”

“We had a limited budget for materials, so it was great to have Krishna tell us what the community wanted,” says Northeast CERT Coordinator Nik Allen. “It was a thoughtful mix of items, including window cling to help seal up drafty windows and emergency light bulbs that are rechargeable and have a battery backup, perfect for blackouts.”

Once the pallet of items was delivered, the resources went fast.

“We shared information about each item through our communications specialist and invited residents to pick them up at the Trust Lands office,” says Woerheide. “This gave families an easy way to see what would work best for their homes. The response was really positive, and also created an opportunity for conversations around energy and preparedness. We distributed nearly all of the materials within the first few days, which shows how much interest there is in simple, practical tools.”

With community leading the way, the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is shining a light on clean energy projects, now and into the future.