Power Grid- File Photo (Creative Commons- Thomas Heil)
FLAGSTAFF, AZ – Representative Ann Kirkpatrick announced today that the Department of Energy will be making $4,991,750 available to help enhance and modernize the electric grid on Navajo Nation. Approximately 40 percent of households on the Navajo Reservation do not have electricity.
The grant is being allocated to the Navajo Tribal Utility Association (NTUA) to install a Smart Grid network and data management system, which will serve all of their 38,000 customers. The NTUA will also integrate the Smart Grid system as part of its distribution network, helping to more quickly identify any system outages so that residents on the Navajo Nation can get the lights back on as soon as possible.
This investment is being made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds are part of $3.4 billion being distributed nationwide in the largest single Smart Grid modernization investment in U.S. history. They will be matched by private funding sources, for a total of over $8 billion directed at developing our electric grid.
