Esmeralda
Diamond Member
Navajo families receive electricity for first time
It's shocking that Americans have been living all this time without electricity. Yes, it was costly to put it in, but our government sends far more than $5 million dollars to other countries. It should first go to people in our own country.
Electricity is a basic necessity in most people's lives but one that is considered a luxury on portions of the Navajo Nation. Across the 27,000 square-mile reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, an estimated 15,000 homes do not have electricity, said Deenise Becenti, a spokeswoman for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.
Some Navajos prefer not to have electricity to maintain a traditional lifestyle. Others live miles apart, making it too expensive to connect each home, Becenti said.
"We can't ask families to live closer together, because they've lived on these lands for generations," she said.
The project in LeChee, a small community just outside of Page, came as the result of a mix of funding from federal grants, the tribal utility authority and the owners of the Navajo Generating Station run by the Salt River Project. The $4.8 million project that began in 2012 with a goal of connecting 63 homes is scheduled to be complete next year.
It's shocking that Americans have been living all this time without electricity. Yes, it was costly to put it in, but our government sends far more than $5 million dollars to other countries. It should first go to people in our own country.