POWER NEED

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes is a federally recognized sovereign nation located in southeast Idaho on the Fort Hall Reservation.

With more than 6,000 tribal members and three casinos, the tribes have a growing impact on the economy of eastern Idaho, accounting for more than 4,400 jobs and $450 million annually.

Since 2008, the tribes have completed several major projects, including the $49 million Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Event Center that opened in 2012. The Chiefs Event Center can host more than 900 people, while the 156-room hotel includes 11 luxury suites and the area’s largest hotel ballroom. In 2019, an adjacent casino was merged with the hotel and event center.

Located 10 miles outside Pocatello, Idaho, the Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel is situated on a 17-acre campus. Not only does the combined facility serve as an economic growth engine for the region and provide jobs for tribal members, revenue from operations is shared to support social service programs within the tribal nation.

In 2012, Shoshone-Bannock began staging concerts and other events at the Chiefs Event Center, which has multiple indoor spaces that can be modified depending on the events that are held there.

During the summer months, the event center hosts outdoor concerts and comedy shows, seating up to 4,000 guests. The summer concert series features major attractions, such as country singer Brad Paisley, that require a larger stage and high-tech audio and lighting equipment. The outdoor shows require additional power beyond what the event center’s electrical infrastructure can provide.

“The larger acts require a bigger stage along with more sophisticated audio and video, and that’s why we need mobile generators to supply additional power,” says entertainment director Jessica Rodriguez. “We need power for more than just the stage; we need it for our beer tents and outdoor lighting. So the power is not just to support the entertainers, but also the guests who attend.”

SOLUTION

In order to adequately support additional power that’s required for outdoor concerts, the tribe utilizes mobile Cat^® rental power from Western States Cat.

Until this summer, the event center used rental power from another outside vendor that proved unreliable. That prompted the event center to evaluate its options. Ultimately, the decision was to rent Cat mobile generators from Western States.

“The other vendor didn’t have the knowledge and experience Western States has,” says Chance Day, an electrician for Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel. “I have an uncle and a couple of friends who work at Western States Cat, and it was through word-of-mouth and what everyone says around town about their customer service and the expertise of their technicians that convinced us to make the change. They invest in updated equipment that runs better and is more reliable.”

For the outdoor shows, the event center utilizes anywhere from three to five 400-amp generators, and three or four 200-amp generators. Most of them are used for stage lighting, audio equipment, and video.

“And then a couple generators are connected to rented RVs that serve as the green rooms for the artists to get ready,” Day says. “So, we need to be able to power those and that changes from show to show. We like the flexibility with the Cat mobile generators because all the performers have different requirements, so it’s nice to be able to move those gensets wherever we need them.

“When Brad Paisley was here, his entourage arrived in eight tour buses,” Day continues. “They all had 50-amp cords on them, so we had to power all those buses while they were here. It’s nice to know we have quiet, reliable power to support our outdoor events.”

Prior to a show, Western States Cat delivers the rental generators to the outdoor venue. Day and his staff move them into position and get them connected before a Western States technician makes sure they have enough fuel and that the circuit breakers are functioning properly.

RESULTS 

This summer, Day says the Cat gensets and the Western States support team have proven to be star performers.

“Our experience with Western States has been great,” Day says. “The only time we had an issue with a breaker that had to be reset was beyond my capability. We had a technician out here within 15 minutes, and he corrected the problem right on the spot.”

The Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel also relies on standby power from a permanent Cat 3516 diesel generator, which can power the entire facility during an outage. The casino is backed up by a C175 genset.

“It’s surprising how many grid outages we tend to have,” Day says. “There are lots of farm fields out here, and storms roll through and cause issues with grid power. So it’s important to have a reliable source of standby power, and our Cat gensets always pull us through until power is restored.

“And if things are ever beyond my ability, it’s nice to know that I have someone on call from Western States who can get here within 10 to 15 minutes and help us out, just in case.” 

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