Top federal officials, including U.S. Secretary Deb Haaland, traveled to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Thursday to announce a $20 million grant to the Hopi Nation. It's for a solar power project and 12 miles of powerline that will bring electricity to nearly 900 Hopi homes.
A third of Hopi homes don’t have electricity and the remainder experience frequent blackouts. Hopi Vice Chairman Craig Andrews says the project will transform the daily lives of tribal members.
"Just a simple thing as turning on a radio or a TV, television, they can’t have that," Andrews says. "Or even the refrigerators that they have — they currently run on generators."
Many Hopi homes also heat with coal or firewood and the grant is meant to accelerate the transition to clean energy. It’s part of a $300 million package awarded to Tribal Nations.
"As I travel across Indian Country, all I see is optimism," U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland says. "Optimism for what we can achieve together, for the impact of these historic investments, and about the future we will leave to our grandchildren."
Haaland made the announcement alongside Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, who says tribal communities face unique challenges with climate change yet historically haven’t received their fair share of federal funding.
Also announced Thursday, the Hopi Utilities Corporation will receive $3.4 million for a battery energy storage system. Earlier this year, the tribe received a $4.2 million grant from the Office of Indian Affairs' Tribal Electrification Program.
