Energy innovator, Tribal administrator, chiropractor, casino manager, de-facto mayor.... unpacking Jason Ramos' many jobs is no easy feat.
But the Blue Lake Rancheria leader always looking forward. He questions the future of the Tribe's gas station. He's helping to build a community health center. And he's got his eye on offshore wind development as a big opportunity.
"I think people in this community deserve some real opportunity for once," he tells Talk Humboldt. "I would sure like it if my Tribal members had jobs, where our local community members had some of those jobs. It's going to be one of those situations where we're going to have to put our heads together and figure that stuff out - and it's coming fast."
______________Transcript_____________
Jackson:
It's great to be here in this beautiful place - Blue Lake Rancheria. I'm here today with my dear friend Keith Flamer. Hi, Keith.
Flamer:
Hey, Tom.
Jackson:
He's the President at College of Redwoods. I'm Tom Jackson, President at Cal Poly Humboldt. We're here with Jason Ramos, the Executive Director and Tribal Councilmember for Blue Lake Rancheria. Good to see you, Jason.
Ramos:
Very good to see you, too.
Flamer:
So... what does a CEO of Blue Lake Rancheria do?
Ramos:
So I do two things, right? So I'm the CEO of Business Operations, but I'm also the Tribal Administrator.
Flamer:
And that means exactly what?
Ramos:
I'm the mayor here.
Flamer:
Yeah?
Ramos:
So everything I fix people's toilets, right? I make sure their roofs don't leak.
Flamer:
Okay!
Ramos:
We do those sorts of things primarily to support the membership here. And I work on infrastructure, everything from the water tank outside, we’re trying to upgrade our sewer capacity, there's economic development that's on its way here, Digital 299 is coming, we have a project called the TAM Project. It's a resiliency center that also has some business incubation, and it's going to also offer some educational components and it’s breaking ground here really soon.
We'll have a health clinic here by the end of this calendar year. So that's going to be on its way. And then the infrastructure to be able to support that, all those buildings need power. They all need sewer, they all need water, they all need data. So I work on that during the day.
Jackson:
Two questions related to that. One is, somewhere along the way, Blue Lake Rancheria had these ideas just come forward - and they are clearly in action. When was that moment?
Ramos:
Great question. Yeah. There's a couple of moments. We started with an energy plan back in 2010, 2008. Back in those days, the power was going off a lot in the winter. And we had diesel generators both on our commercial operations and on our Tribal office buildings. We always wanted to do solar at at that time. And people kind of forget this: the cost of solar panels was still really expensive. And so and that didn't really change until 2016, 2017, the prices started coming down.
We did a solar feasibility study around that time, and that was the first time I heard the term “microgrid” during regular operations. You can store a bunch of energy from solar during the day and you can discharge it at the peak rate hours rate so you pay less for power - it's called peak shaving. During the time in the day where you pay the most for energy, you discharge your battery. During that time, we save about $200,000 a year in per unit costs just by peak shaving. And then if there's a storm coming, there's a mode where it'll just save for maximum battery.
Jackson:
That makes a lot of sense. It does nicely explain that second question. The workforce - because you're talking about these different industries, health care as well. What do you think we need in the coming years?
Ramos:
Oh, man, that's - more of all of it. There's not a lot of high-voltage electricians in this county now. And yeah, there's not a lot of electricians, period. And certainly, everybody knows the shortage with nurses and health care staff. I think we've all got a huge challenge moving forward. We're kind of knocking on the door of a whole new industry that could be here with offshore wind.
I would sure like it if my Tribal members had jobs, where our local community members had some of those jobs. It's going to be one of those situations where we're going to have to put our heads together and figure that stuff out - and it's coming fast.
Flamer:
Yeah, we have to start thinking about it now so we can implement in five years.
Ramos:
I saw another metric that 35% of all vehicles by 2026 in this state have to be electrical vehicles, and by 2035, it's 100%. So the article I was reading says, look, you’ve got to develop an extra six gigawatts of power every year for the next 20 years to keep up with demand.
Flamer:
Okay. I have no idea what that means. So, for example, how many watts do you produce now?
Ramos:
If you look at our facility with all our buildings and everything here, that's about a half of a megawatt. And we're talking about a gigawatt, which is a thousand megawatts.
Flamer:
And how do we get there in your mind?
Ramos:
I'm not sure.
Flamer:
I don't know either.
Ramos:
Okay. To kind put that in perspective, the offshore wind is proposed in three phases. On full buildout, it's 1.6 or 1.7 gigawatts. So not even two gigawatts. So you put it in perspective, you're like, oh, we need six? That's a lot of offshore wind every year.
I knew there would be electric vehicles. But that's like, I’ve got to rethink... we have a gas station, a service station. What does that look like in ten years? There'll still be petroleum-based cars, but now everybody wants a fast charger like the chargers you saw outside. They're the Type 1. So it takes, like 6 hours to charge your car.
Even my employees are giving me a hard time. They’re like, “That takes too long. I'll drive to Eureka first.” I thought that was cutting-edge technology. Now we're behind. We're going to have to replace those.
Flamer:
You have to re-vision your business, but it’s exciting at the same time.
Ramos:
Exciting. And there's going to be a ton of opportunity. I think people in this community deserve some real opportunity for once. First, it was the gold rush and then the timber rush, fishing rush, you know, the cannabis rush,
Flamer:
Energy rush.
Ramos:
Yeah, and it's just sunlight and wind. We're not killing our rivers or streams or polluting anything, as far as that goes. I think we're headed down the right path.
Jackson:
We're here today with Jason Ramos, Tribal administrator for Blue Lake Rancheria. You know, Jason, I do want to ask about your first life after Cal Poly Humboldt. But before you do that, Keith and I are here today, right next to a casino. How does the casino industry really work? And if you don't mind that, then and then slide into maybe that first life.
Ramos:
Yeah. So casinos operate on a hold percentage based on wager. All those games are designed, whether it be table games, whether it be the gaming devices. The math is all worked out so well. What is that number at - 50%? Are they going to keep half my money? Is it 25%? What is that number? The numbers have been about 6%.
Flamer:
Only 6%?
Ramos:
I know. It was amazing when I found out also, but you’ve got to remember, there's a lot of wagers. That's how that industry works.
Flamer:
I see.
Ramos:
And then, you know, you try to provide your guests with some amenities, a nice hotel, good food and beverage - just a hospitality business.
Jackson:
And then the life before this? Wasn't it bending bones?
Ramos:
I'm still a licensed chiropractor.
Flamer:
You are?
Ramos:
I am.
Flamer:
Doctor Ramos!
Ramos:
I still am after all these years. I had a practice in Las Vegas, Nevada, I worked out of the hospital two days a week and then had my regular practice with my business partner, who was my classmate. And I did that until this project really started going. After the development of this project, I went back to school.
Flamer:
You did?
Ramos:
I went back to school. I got a master's degree.
Flamer:
In what?
Ramos:
In exercise physiology. The only difference was they built a new building. I left, and it was still the same old building. I came back - You get a brand new building [laughter].
Jackson:
I'm realizing there's a connectivity between kinesiology, gambling and microgrids and science. I thank you so much for your time.
Ramos:
Thank you guys for coming.
Flamer:
Absolutely. I enjoyed it tremendously.
