This is a fitting post for the 4th of July, from a CNN article yesterday written by Ashley Killough and Ed Lavandera:
As it gets hotter, 13,000 families in this pocket of America live without electricity.
3,000 families, roughly a third of Navajo Nation householdsare still off the electrical grid.
Now, as global temperatures rise, the rush to electrify one of the poorest regions in the United States is more urgent than ever, not an easy task in an area known for its rugged terrain and arid climate. But it’s critical to the health and safety of a community that traces its roots in the American Southwest back at least 800 years.
Approximately the size of West Virginia, the Navajo Nation is rich with energy sources and production, but while private companies electrified areas around the Southwest, the Navajo Nation reaped few benefits. One hundred years ago, it wasn’t profitable for the for-profit utilities to go out and bring rural areas power.
It’s a struggle to connect Navajo households in New Mexico to the power grid. It costs the Navajo Nation $40,000 per family, largely due to the remote, desert land, a massive financial challenge where the average annual household income is just over $30,000, less than half the national rate. Without a grid connection, residents use their vehicles to charge cell phones or get a brief taste of air conditioning. Families use camp-style coolers to store food, but those need constant supplies of ice, which quickly melts.
“I don’t think any part of America shouldn’t have electricity in 2024,” said Bryan English, a crew foreman with Trico Electric Cooperative in Arizona. “It’s crazy that this still happens in America.”
