SRP helps bring power to 17 remote homes on Navajo Nation
May 3, 2024, 10:12 AM
PHOENIX — Over a dozen homes on the Navajo Nation now have electricity after Salt River Project crews helped connect them to power lines.
SRP line crews brought electricity to 17 remote homes, installing 137 poles, 16 transformers and over 82,400 feet of electrical line, according to a press release from the power and utility provider.
The work was part of an initiative called Light up Navajo (LUN), which began four years ago with the goal of bringing power to homes that have never had it before.
Bringing light to Navajo homes through LUN project
This year, SRP was among 38 utilities from 16 states that volunteered in the LUN project.
Since the inception of the initiative, crews have contributed to bringing electricity to 114 homes.
The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) and the American Public Power Association.
“We are grateful to SRP. This humanitarian initiative was created to help ease the daily burdens for families living without electricity,” NTUA General Manager Walter Hasse said in a press release.
“Without electric power the families cannot cook meals, heat up their homes, or power up computers, tablets, and charge their mobile phones.”
Here’s why SRP helps brings power to homes on Navajo Nation
A lineman for SRP said that operations on the Navajo Nation pose unique challenges.
“The absence of roads, dust carried by the winds, and the adjustment to high altitude all contribute to the complex conditions,” Alex Apodaca, a lineman at SRP, said in the release.
“However, witnessing families gain access to reliable energy is extremely rewarding and makes it all worth it.”
Homes on Navajo Nation are often spread out, requiring several miles of electrical lines and poles to power a single house.
“We are bringing power to people who have never had it,” Marc Sienicki, working foreman at SRP, said in the release. “I love to see people turning power on for their first time, and not having to start a generator. I hope to continue going there year after year.”
