Native American leaders in the Four Corners area are being courted by Sempra Energy and Citizens Energy as the two companies compete for the opportunity to build the Navajo Nation’s first renewable energy project.

The $1 billion wind farm near Cameron calls for constructing 100 wind turbines atop Gray Mountain. Citizens Energy has offered the tribe 20 percent of the project, while details on what benefits Sempra is putting forth haven’t been disclosed, according to a report in the Arizona Daily Sun. The Navajo government is currently weighing the two offers with the hope of having the farm in operation by 2012. Wind projects near Kayenta and in the northern Chuska Mountains along the New Mexico/Arizona border are also being considered.

The Gray Mountain project is generating a mixed response from some of the residents of Cameron and Gray Mountain, many of whom are concerned about the 400-foot tall turbines that would be operating. Marie Howard, of Cameron, has been offered promises of power to her home if she will sign a petition in support the project. But she refuses. “People think that it’s a good opportunity for their kids, but I don’t think so,” she told the Daily Sun.

Other residents, however, have voiced approval in conversations with the newspaper. Sina Nez, of Cameron, said she feels wind power is a far better option than coal mining and coal-fired power. Neighbor Tex Walker agreed, telling the paper, “I think it’s good because it’s the first time we ever had anything like this on the whole reservation.”

Who will be building the wind farm and when it will happen should be known within a few months, according to the officials involved.