The Hopi tribe will receive $20 million from the federal government as part of a grant that will help deliver reliable electricity to as many as 900 homes that now lack power.
The tribe is one of 34 recipients of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Pollution Reduction Grants and one of two in Arizona. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community will receive nearly $10 million for its "Go Green Initiative," which will fund clean energy initiatives.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland talked about the grants during a news conference Thursday outside Flagstaff. Haaland said the program will showcase "the resiliency of Native people and demonstrate the critical need to get resources to tribal nations so they can make decisions for their communities."
Craig Andrews, vice chairman of the Hopi Tribe, said he was thrilled to learn his tribe would be receiving over $20 million to support renewable, cost-effective electricity.
"I was just so blown away and I was like 'Oh my God!' I am just so happy getting the power out to our residents that are suffering because they want the same amenities as you all in town (have)," he said at the news conference.
The Hopi Utilities Corporation was selected by the U.S. EPA to receive a share of the $300 million as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda.
The EPA reviewed 110 applications requesting over $1.3 billion in funding. The funding will support the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction strategies identified by tribal and territorial communities.
Collectively, the projects proposed by the selected applicants are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050 — equivalent to the annual electricity usage of nearly 1.4 million homes, according to the EPA.
"We know that tribal communities often face unique climate challenges and we also know that many of these communities never received their fair of tackling these challenges," said Regan. "The Hopi tribes knows firsthand the impact of energy inequality and those impacts on their community."
Electrifying 900 Hopi homes
About 35% of Hopi households do not have access to electricity and have to deal with frequent outages. The Hopi Coal to Solar Transitionproject, proposed by the Hopi Utilities Corporation should be completed by 2026-2027 and will provide renewable electricity to the Hopi Reservation.
Combined with other federal investments, the project will supply clean and reliable electricity to homes on the reservation, including electrifying nearly 900 homes that now lack electricity. The project is also intended to help improve air quality and boost economic development and workforce training, according to the EPA.
"Whenever we get brownouts or power outages there goes our groceries," said Andrews. "So we have to make another trip to Winslow, which is 65 miles away ... so stocking up possibly for the month ... so when it happens, and it happens, all that meat or whatever needs to be refrigerated all has to be thrown out. So this was our concern."
Turning on a radio, television, or even owning an operating refrigerator are the most basic amenities that some Hopi tribal members live without, said Andrews.
"The refrigerators that they have are currently running on generators," said Andrews. "Generators, as you may know, will at some point in time it will run the term of its life and go out, and they will have to purchase a new one."
Andrews said the funding will support an existing solar power project, allowing the tribe to extend 12 miles of power lines to Hotevilla and ensuring backup power during outages. He also noted that other tribal members who rely heavily on solar energy will benefit from this funding, enabling them to continue utilizing solar power.
"The village of Oraibi that we visited and with these homes with constant ceremonies going on, they rely on their solar," said Andrews. "Simple things make a whole lot of difference when we are bringing in power, even something as simple as bringing in a solar panel to the homes. Now we can tell them with confidence that 'Yes! It's going to happen. It will happen and you will get your power! You will get your solar services!'"
He noted that as a small tribe, the Hopi have always advocated for other smaller tribes in need of funding and assistance. Being surrounded by the much larger Navajo Nation, like "a donut hole," he said, has made it challenging for the Hopi to import water or extend water lines through the area.
Many Hopi families live in multigenerational homes due to a lack of essential infrastructure such as water, power, and sewer systems, he said. Once these services are in place, families will be able to move out of shared homes. Even for those who own land, the challenge remains in establishing the necessary infrastructure to build new homes, and this funding will help remove that hurdle.
"This means a lot. This means power to the people who don't have power," said Andrews of the funding. "I won't be surprised to see homes pop up out there because that's what they're waiting for. So it means a lot to us for all the villages that are now going to benefit from this."
Lack of investment
The night before the announcement, Haaland met with the tribe and shared that she often visited the Hopi reservation as a child. In March, she had returned to announce that the Hopi Utilities Corporation would receive $4.2 million from the Office of Indian Affairs’ Tribal Electrification Program, funded through the first round of the Inflation Reduction Act.
That program "is an important step to the goal to electrify all homes in the United States with clean sources that advance our work to reach carbon pollution free electricity sector by 2035," said Haaland.
She said the government is working to address long overdue critical water infrastructure, noting that Hopi has suffered from toxic levels of arsenic in it water system since the 1960s.
The Salt River Pima-Maricopa community will use its share of the funding for several elements of its green initiative, including measures to add electric vehicles to its fleet, conduct home energy assessments and plant 3,000 native trees to create carbon sinks and enhance air quality.
The community also plans to build a renewable natural gas plant that will deliver gas converted from a landfill to an existing pipeline.
The selected projects will focus on reducing greenhouse gas pollution across six key economic sectors, particularly on transportation, electric power, and commercial and residential buildings. These efforts will also promote workforce development and job creation in Indian Country, according to the EPA.
"Through the White House Council of Native American Affairs we are making sure we are not just delivering more resources for Indian Country but increasing access to capital from outside the federal family," said Haaland. "We are making up for significant and systemic underfunding of tribal communities that has happened over many generations. We know the need is incredibly high, and that is what decades of the lack of depleted investment looks like but what we are doing here will have lasting and enduring results."
Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send ideas and tips to arlyssa.becenti@arizonarepublic.com.
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