November 17, 2025

Minnesota-based non-profit developer Native Sun Community Power Development (Native Sun) and energy industry software solutions firm Open Access Technology International (OATI) have partnered to deploy EV charging in Upper Midwest US tribal lands. 

The strategic partnership aims to accelerate energy sovereignty across tribal nations in a five-state Upper Midwest US region. The Upper Midwest generally includes Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, with some definitions also including North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Nebraska and Illinois. 

Native Sun and OATI are partnering to deploy smart electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and related clean energy technologies.

OATI will provide its EV charging infrastructure, smart charging software and customer support platform through subsidiary EVolution. 

The partnership will build on agreements Native Sun has already made with tribal nations in the Upper Midwest, and each Tribe will own their own station outright once it has been installed. 

"Tribal nations continue to drive the energy transition by investing in the electrification, reliability, and resilience tools critical to supporting their communities and expanding economic opportunities," said Sasan Mokhtari, President & CEO of OATI.

OATI said it can also provide tribes with further consultation, design and planning services for microgrid projects. The Department of Energy (DOE) has in the past funded numerous microgrid projects on tribal lands in the US.

The DOE has a targeted programme called the Tribal Energy Financing Program (TEFP) which aims to fund such projects, but has only disbursed loan funds for one programme so far out of 20 applications: a solar and battery project for the Viejas Group of Capitan Grande Band Mission Indians in California, covered by our sister site Energy-Storage.news.