TUBA CITY, Ariz. — Learning about the challenges some Navajo people face in powering their homes came as a surprise to Scott Bunker, assistant director of Provo Power, Provo’s municipal electricity provider.
“Some are still cooking with fire,” he said. “It’s kind of shocking.”
In fact, about 13,500 Navajo homes lack access to the power grid, accounting for nearly a third of the 186,500 residents on the reservation, according to Navajo Tribal Utilities Authority figures. As of 2019, about 15,000 Navajo homes lacked power, which the American Public Power Association said at the time represented about 75% of all American households without electricity.
Any way you look at it, the problem is a significant one, and to help, a Provo Power crew is on the Navajo Nation this week installing power lines to increase access to electricity. The four-person crew — who are helping the Navajo Nation as part of the Light Up Navajo Initiative — arrived Sunday and will continue working through next Sunday.
The crew is helping install utility poles and connecting lines and has so far lit up at least one home connected to the connection, Bunker said. The Navajo Nation covers southeastern Utah, northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona, and the Provo crew assists in the Arizona area, around Tuba City and Page.
“It could be a very amazing experience to witness that,” said Bunker, who is not part of the Provo Power team on Navajo Nation. Provo Power had hoped to send crews to the Navajo Nation in 2020 and 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented those plans.
Provo Power supplies the workforce and uses its trucks while the Navajo Nation provides the materials. The Light Up Navajo Initiative, by enlisting the help of utility companies like Provo Power, defrays the Navajo Nation’s costs, helping with the rapid expansion of the energy grid within its borders. Provo Power is one of 26 utility companies from 16 states that will participate in this year’s edition of Light Up Navajo, which runs through late July with the goal of connecting 200 homes to the grid.
“Our Provo Power Line crew is making great strides on the Light Up Navajo Project!” Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “Proud of their hard work and dedication to bringing power to the Navajo Nation.”
Expanding the power grid could have a significant impact on the lives of Navajo Nation residents. The lack of access to electricity “means that food and groceries cannot last more than a few days, household chores are performed under the dome light of the family car, and significant expenses are incurred to run generators as needed,” the American Public Power Association’s promotional materials said. For Light Up Navajo efforts.
But it’s an expensive proposition, one that requires efforts like Light Up Navajo. According to a Navajo Nation report submitted last year to New Mexico state lawmakers, connecting all 13,500 households without power to the grid could cost about $1 billion. Thanks to Light Up Navajo last year, 159 homes were connected to the network while 137 homes will be connected to the network in 2022.
The Navajo Nation is also building solar farms to help meet its energy needs, though some of the electricity generated is sold to customers outside the reservation. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy tentatively announced it would award an Arizona company an $8 million grant to use to expand access to off-grid solar energy to 300 Navajo homes.
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