"For as long as 55-year-old Hopi Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma has been alive, high-voltage power lines have cut across Hopi lands in northeast Arizona, carrying vast amounts of power long distances throughout the Southwest. But residents of the Hopi Reservation have never been connected to that grid. Instead, tribal members have relied on a single power line that runs roughly 30 miles east and west"
"Those who live more than a mile away from that line nearly 3,000 people have no access to electricity. Families need to rely on generators to power everything from refrigerators to medical devices. The rest of the reservation is connected to the grid, but the power is unreliable and outages can sometimes last days. "If you have a power surge or any kind of power outage, you're definitely going to lose that power to that equipment that somebody's life might be reliant on," Nuvangyaoma says."
Hopi Reservation residents in northeast Arizona remain largely disconnected from nearby high-voltage transmission lines. Tribal communities rely on a single distribution line running roughly 30 miles, leaving nearly 3,000 people who live more than a mile from that line without electricity. Off-grid families depend on generators for refrigerators and medical devices, while connected areas face unreliable service and multi-day outages. The Inflation Reduction Act provided nearly $2 billion for tribal renewable energy, and the Hopi were approved for a $25 million Solar for All grant to install solar and batteries for about 600 homes. Termination of Solar for All reduced funding, leaving only a smaller Tribal Electrification grant to cover roughly 100 homes.
Read at www.npr.org
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