While reactive opposition against private wind farms was spreading throughout the Isthmus (see the case: Mareña Renovables in San Dionisio del Mar), new spaces of dialogue were organized to discuss some local alternatives. One of the most salient moments in this context occurred in August 2009, when the Assembly in Defense of the Land and Territory of the Indigenous People in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (“the Assembly”), and other local organizations celebrated a Forum in Juchitán called “Indigenous communities, self-determination and energy sovereignty‟. This Forum represented one of the first instances in the world to use the “energy sovereignty” concept, while it opened a space to discuss community wind farms as an alternative to the private model. In the context of this Forum, the active participation of a foreign foundation (The Yansa Group) played an important role to make local communities aware of the idea of community wind-farms. Thereafter, commune members of Ixtepec approached the Yansa Team in order to work together on the idea. During 2009 and 2010, three communal assemblies in Ixtepec were celebrated in order to include a community wind farm project in the community’s new territory plan. Additional enabling activities were conducted by Yansa, including community meetings and working groups, environmental assessments, contract negotiations, and siting logistics. This project shared some similarities with private wind-farms, including the scale (in terms of number of windmills and installed capacity) and the amount of investment required. However, the community wind farm plan was different in terms of ownership, revenue distribution and decision-making processes. Even further, it entailed an active participation of the community both through existing communal institutions (assembly and peasant‟s organization) and new spaces of decision making (women and youth forums). In order to obtain permits for construction and operation of the wind farm, the Yansa-Ixtepec project needed to comply with the Government’s requirements and participate in the 2012 call for tender. In this context, Yansa and the Ixtepec community decided to present the project in advance. However, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) dismissed the project arguing that the Community Interest Company was not an existing legal entity in Mexico. After this, the CFE opened two different tenders in the Ixtepec location. The conditions of both tenders were denounced by the community and Yansa as favoring big firms while establishing additional "padlocks" for their project. Different political reactions were manifested against the CFE decision. In October 2012, the House of Congress in Mexico approved an agreement to ask the CFE to stop the auctions favoring private companies and allow the Ixtepec community to start their project. Both left and right representatives claimed the urgent need to follow the national and international laws protecting indigenous communities, while supporting social alternatives to renewable energy production. These political pressures led the CFE to announce a temporal suspension of the tender. However, controversy remains open: while international media announces that Enel Green Power has already been awarded to develop the „Sureste‟ project, the Ixtepec community and Yansa keep pushing the issue. As stated in a recent forum celebrated in Ixtepec, the community continues to overcome obstacles for their project, while demanding the restitution of their land if CFE allows a private project in their territory. Key words: windmills, cooperative local enterprise, indigenous communities, "energy sovereignty"

The wind farm would operate as an Independent Power Producer (IPP), where electricity would be sold to the CFE over a 20-year period at a fixed price.

Total costs of the project were expected to be about 200 Million USD financed through debts. After servicing payments, the project was expected to generate a total annual surplus of about 50 million Mexican Pesos (around 3.81 million USD) for the next 20 years.

Surplus was expected to be distributed in two parts:

50% for Yansa (investing to replicate this project elsewhere)

50% for the Ixtepec community. This amount would be sub-divided: 50% for land owners

50% for community programs