Energy Keepers prepare to take over Kerr Dam

A herd of mule deer grazed on the south-facing hill above the Flathead River near Kerr Dam Tuesday.

Far below, near the dam powerhouse, Dustin Shelby walked through the ice and slush, describing the ties his family has to this land — and this dam. “There’s always deer up there,” he said. “I hardly even notice them any more,” Shelby said. His ancestors helped build Kerr Dam in the 1930s. In fact, two of his ancestors died in a rock slide during the dam’s construction. Now Shelby, a Pablo native and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, gets to help write the next chapter in Kerr Dam’s history. Shelby is studying electrical engineering at Montana State University and will return to Polson to help run the dam when he graduates in two years. This September, Kerr Dam operations and ownership will transfer to Energy Keepers Inc., a wholly owned corporation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The deal to purchase the dam started in 1985, when the last 30-year license under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was up for renewal.

The deal closed last year, when the tribes and Northwestern Energy agreed to a purchase price of $18.3 million.

On Tuesday, some of the new staff who will operate the dam began touring the facility. The operations officials ranged from finance to maintenance, and they inspected some of the assets that the tribes will inherit this September, including six residences near the powerhouse.

Shelby, a junior at Montana State University, talked about how the transition of ownership of Kerr Dam to the tribes is a natural evolution.

He’s been interested in the history of Kerr Dam since he was in middle school. His mother worked for the tribes, and she instilled in him a goal-oriented work ethic — and the fact that one day the tribes would own the electrical-generating facility. “She always kept it in my mind it was going to be something great for the tribes,” Shelby said.

Shelby worked for Mission Valley Power, the local distribution utility that provides electricity to the reservation’s residents. When he learned that Kerr Dam operations required an electrical engineer, he applied for an educational partnership with Energy Keepers, and got it. “I just put my name in the hat, and here I am today,” Shelby said.

When the tribes take over ownership of Kerr Dam, other job opportunities may arise, and Shelby said the Kerr Dam operation could help foster opportunities on the reservation for young people, and he is going to encourage young people on the reservation to work hard in science and math.

“It’s a great opportunity for the tribes,” Shelby said. “I always believed this was our resource. It brings us a level of economic stability we’ve never had before, and it’s something that the kids need to be aware of.

“This will be one of the best jobs the tribes will have to offer.”

Shelby’s tribal ancestry goes back to Chief Koostahtah, chief of the Kootenais. His ancestry is one reason he is working hard to raise a family and to get a college degree. “I believe there are a lot of historical aspects to this, and this is my way of giving back, of helping the tribes,” Shelby said. “I feel like I have an obligation to the tribe to make sure this is a success. I’m quite fortunate to have the opportunity I have here.”

Shelby — and his family — still remember the people on his mother’s and his father’s side of the family who died in a rock slide building Kerr Dam in the early 1930s. “It’s been in our family, and it’s weighed on our family’s minds whenever they spoke of Kerr Dam,” Shelby said. “We want the story to be honorable. Not one of tragedy. It’s history and we’re writing the pages every day.

It’s going to be a story of triumph.”