Josie Osborne

The provincial government is giving $7.1 million to 12 remote First Nations to help them convert from diesel to renewable energy to power their communities. That money will come from the $29 million community energy diesel reduction program set up to spend that amount over three years to help B.C.’s 44 remote communities develop alternative-energy projects and advance energy efficiency. The majority of those communities are First Nations. She said the 12 communities getting the first round of funding includes the Lhoozk’uz Dene Nation near Quesnel — which will receive $350,000 to build a biomass-powered system for heat and power — and the Haida Nation, which that will receive $2 million to develop and build a two-megawatt solar farm on Haida Gwaii’s Northern grid.