NAVAJO NATION, AZ — It was a moment of magic on the Navajo Nation.
Back in April, Ken and Susie Trevino got electricity for the first time in their Birdsprings home thanks to the Light Up Navajo project.
The project has helped connect more than 700 Navajo families to the power grid since it began back in 2019. Although it's helping a part of our country where an estimated 1 in 5 homes does not have electricity, the Trevinos also told ABC15 about a number of delays they ran into, so ABC15 took their questions to Navajo leaders to get answers.
The Trevinos say the process of getting their home site lease approved and getting the green light for electricity took more than two years to complete.
"I pretty much lost hope," says Ken Trevino.
"Yeah, I did too," explains Susie Trevino. "I was thinking I should just forget it."
In a recent interview with Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley, we pushed for answers to see what could be done to speed up the process of getting approvals:
ABC15: "So what I wanted to do is bring their concerns to the two of you to see if there is anything that Navajo Nation officials can do to try and speed up the process for them."
President Nygren: "I think one of the things we have tried to do in the NTUA Light Up Navajo program... I know the GM comes to my office in early January to get a lot of the right-of-way clearances, the easements that are needed, and that's one of the things we are trying to streamline. And I know Speaker Curley is trying to work on the legislative side to give them opportunities to waive some of those things."
Speaker Curley: "The branches within our government have made several adjustments to make it a streamlined process for home site approval, right-of-way approval, but we also have a hurdle to overcome with the federal regulations that are in place for these right of ways for these environmental clearances, archaeological studies, and this is a timely process."
And it's not just impacting individual families — Navajo Nation leaders are eager to break ground on what would be the reservation's fourth solar power facility, which would be located in Cameron, but the approval process has taken longer than many would have expected.
ABC15: "Are you working to try and speed up that process?"
President Nygren: "I try to work with our tribal enterprises and I know the Cameron project has been on the books for a couple years and we've really just been trying to work through the process. Sometimes it's on our end, but sometimes, it's on the federal end."
ABC15 reached out to several federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, who sent us the following statement:
"Our organization, the Office of Indian Energy, within the Dept. of Energy, prioritizes making energy available to Native Americans and Alaska natives.
Between 2010 and 2022, the DOE Office of Indian Energy invested over $120 million in more than 210 Tribal energy projects implemented across the contiguous 48 states and Alaska. These projects, valued at more than $215 million, are leveraged by over $93 million in recipient cost share. See the DOE Office of Indian Energy website for a map and summaries of these competitively funded projects.
In 2022, the DOE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Navajo Nation concerning the Navajo’s transition from a coal centric energy foundation to renewable energy. Since then, we have expanded the MOU to include the Hopi Tribe. The MOU aims to ease Tribal access to federal funding available to assist in the transition to renewable power. As you have written, resource extraction (coal and uranium) has been taken from Navajo lands to power cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
Memorandum of Understanding Supports Navajo Nation’s Energy Transition | Department of Energy
With the closure of Salt River Project’s Navajo Generating Station in 2019, the Navajo Nation lost about 1000 jobs. The closure significantly reduced Tribal revenue, negatively impacting the Tribal economy. This MOU is seen as a collaborative, consensus-based community planning process with the goal of advancing the Navajo Nation and Hope Tribal efforts to shape their self-determined energy future.
Phillip Guerrero
Department of Energy
Office of Indian Energy"
