Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico is close to finalizing a deal to sell power from a solar plant.

The tribe plans to build a four-megawatt solar plant on 30 acres. It would be the first utility-scale project in Indian Country.

The project will be financed with $22 million in grants, loans and tax credits. A contract to sell power could generate about $25 million in revenues over the next 25 years.

"We don't have any revenue coming in except for a little convenience store said James Roger Madalena, a tribal leader who serves in the New Mexico Legislature. "It's very critical that we become innovative, creative, that we come up with something that will last generations without having a devastating impact on the environment."

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NM Indian Tribe Hopes to Profit From Solar Energy (AP 1/12)