SRP sending line workers to provide electricity to 300 homes in Navajo Nation

PHOENIX — Families living without home electricity on the Navajo Nation in Arizona will be able to flick a switch to power up soon.

One of Arizona’s largest energy suppliers, Salt River Project, is sending four crews to Navajo Nation to provide electricity for families without power.

Line workers from nine other states will also be part of the joint initiative with the American Public Power Association and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, which is the public power utility serving the Navajo Nation.

SRP’s first crew will depart Tempe on Saturday and begin to set miles of wooden distribution poles and string conductor through Navajo Nation.

The line workers will start in Chinle and hope to power up their first home by April 8.

The goal is to bring electricity to 300 homes over the monthlong Light Up Navajo initiative.

Approximately 14,000 homes on Navajo Nation — about 25% — don’t have electricity.

Effort to light up homes was paused for most of the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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