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LS Power Supports Light Up Navajo III

LS Power Supports Light Up Navajo III

May 17, 2022

This #GivingTuesday, LS Power is supporting “Light Up Navajo III” (LUN III) with a donation of $5,000 and encouraging those that can help to lend their support.

LUN III is a humanitarian mutual-aid initiative by The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) to extend power lines and bring electricity to families in need from April to June 2022, for which the goal is to connect up to 200 homes to the electric grid for the first time.

In addition to monetary donations, the NTUA also welcomes volunteer crews of 2-4 electrical lineworkers for weekly shifts and equipment such as 60-foot bucket trucks, utility trucks, digger derricks, pressure diggers, and pole trailers.

Imagine life without electricity. Without television, without computers, tablets or cell phones. Picture life where refrigerators don’t exist because there is no electric power.

For ~14,000 families on the Navajo Nation, this is reality. The Light Up Navajo project will help to change that for families throughout the region.

– Joe Arthur, Exec. Dir., Central PA Food Bank (5.2.22)

The need is great in the SW Navajo Nation, where, as of the latest census stats from 2010, 38% of the Navajo people live below the poverty line, 32% lack electricity, and 31% lack plumbing. Consequently, many families need to haul water over 20 miles several times a week to their homes, store food in ice chests as they have no refrigeration, and burn wood or coal for cooking and heating purposes. For many children, remote schooling or simply a light to read with at night is not possible.

The Light Up Navajo mutual-aid initiative focuses on connecting some of these families, for which the pilot LUN I program in 2019 provided electricity to 233 families. Because so many families remain without power, LUN III is now underway. (LUN II was scheduled for 2020 but was unfortunately canceled amid COVID-19 challenges.)

“We prayed for electricity for so many years because Navajo life can be hard,” said Phyllis Littlefoot, of Tonalea, AZ, who waited 13 years for electricity. “Now that we have power, we can go shopping for a week at a time.”

If you are able to help, please reach out directly to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA; Tax EIN Number 86-0204662). Donations of materials or lineworker crews can be directed to Srinivasa (Veni) Venigalla, Deputy General Manager (SrinivasaV@ntua.com; 928.729.6281). Monetary donations can be provided by check or wire transfer through Peggy Thompson in the NTUA Finance and Accounting department (peggyt@ntua.com; 928-729-5721 x4659).

About LS Power:

Founded in 1990, LS Power is a premier development, investment, and operating company focused on the North American power and energy infrastructure sector, with leading platforms across generation, transmission and energy transition solutions. Since inception, LS Power has developed or acquired over 47,000 MW of power generation, including utility-scale solar, wind, hydro, battery energy storage, and natural gas-fired facilities. Through LS Power Grid, the firm has built and operates approximately 680 miles of high-voltage transmission and has another 200+ miles and multiple grid infrastructure projects currently under construction or development. Across its efforts, LS Power actively invests in and scales businesses that are accelerating the energy transition, including electric vehicle charging, demand response, microgrids, renewable fuels and waste-to-energy platforms. Over the years, LS Power has raised $53 billion in debt and equity capital to support North American infrastructure.