The Delta-Montrose Electric Association headed to Navajo tribal land this week to assist with getting electricity to reservation land that was previously without power.

Light Up Navajo is a mutual-aid program. This year, 46 electric utility companies from 16 states chose to participate in the program, from April 7 to July 20. More than 250 electric line workers signed on to connect at least 150 homes this year.

Provided photo

As of last week, 125 Navajo families had been connected to the grid for the first time as part of this year’s program (the fifth separate year, but not consecutive, as the COVID-19 pandemic shut the program down).

As of last year, 13,500 Navajo Nation homes were still without electricity.

“We are grateful for the outside utilities who want to help bring positive change for families waiting for electricity,” said NTUA General Manager Walter Haase in a release. “The communities these utilities represent learned about our challenges and were prompted to be a part of this dramatically meaningful project.”

DMEA was the first cooperative utility provider to participate in the program.

“I’ll never forget the moment when we heated up the meter and energized the home for a family who never had power. One of the women living there came to the door excitedly and exclaimed, ‘The fan is turning!’” said DMEA Safety Director Chad Stickler, via a DMEA newsletter after the 2023 project.

(DMEA photo)

The Navajo Nation is made up of 27,000 square miles in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Light Up Navajo was created through a partnership with American Public Power Association (APPA). APPA has a mutual aid program that sends electric crews to areas hit by natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes. When those events take place, utility companies would send crews to those regions to assist with power restoration. The concept was presented to members of the APPA.

Light Up Navajo has become a unique mutual aid initiative by bringing together utility companies that represent Public Power, Rural Cooperatives, and Independent System Operators.