Intertribal Life Newspaper -

Navajo Nation-Federal energy officials took the unusual step of denying permits Thursday to several pumped hydropower projects proposed on the Navajo Nation, citing a new policy that gives tribes a greater voice in projects on their lands.

The tribe and environmental groups had urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny applications for several of the pumped storage projects, saying they worried about the impact of the projects but had not been consulted by developers.

In the past, the FERC said, it would have given a preliminary OK to the projects while the debate continued, but t...