Proposed legislation will help bring Navajo families electric power. | Pixabay
Proposed legislation will help bring Navajo families electric power. | Pixabay
Legislation that will give $89 million in funding support for the Navajo Electrification Demonstration Program (NEDP) and help bring Navajo families electric power, has been introduced to the U.S. Senate by Sens. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
The proposed funding will be included in COVID-relief legislation and will allow the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) to bring electric power to the roughly 15,000 Navajo families currently living without electricity, according to a press release on McSally's website.
“In the midst of a pandemic, the lack of adequate infrastructure on Navajo Nation, including access to electricity, has only exacerbated this crisis," McSally said in a statement.
Heinrich also shared his thoughts.
“We have seen the proven effectiveness of the Navajo Electrification Demonstration Program in the past," he said. "By reauthorizing this program, we can ramp up job-creating clean energy projects to bring electricity to Navajo families."
The proposed funding would help build infrastructure to bring electricity to 2,172 homes, according to the release.
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