More than a quarter of all households on the Navajo Nation lack electricity. Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has finalized a major loan package to connect more residents to the grid. KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius reports.
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority will use the $235 million loan to connect 1,340 residents and build and improve hundreds of miles of transmission line. A portion of the loan package will add modernized smart-grid technology to make the reservation’s electrical system more resilient, reliable and efficient. The USDA says smart grids can act as a catalyst for broadband and other telecommunications that are also lacking on many parts of the Navajo Nation.
It’s part of a larger $600 million federal program to shore up electric infrastructure in rural areas and many tribal communities in 11 states.
The separate Light Up Navajo project has connected hundreds of households to the grid in recent years. But an estimated 15,000 homes remain without electricity, preventing access to running water, lighting, heating and cooling, and refrigeration.
