Connecting homes, extending power lines
Light Up Navajo is a mutual aid project launched in 2019 by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) with the American Public Power Association (APPA) to connect homes without electricity under an expedited time frame. Each year, utilities send crews to the Navajo Nation to help connect homes and extend power lines.
Last year, from April to August 2025, Light Up Navajo brought in 44 outside utility companies that traveled to the Navajo Nation with the goal of bringing electricity to families living without it. They worked alongside the NTUA electric crews to extend power to at least 200 homes in the four-month timeframe.
NTUA was established in 1959 as a small water utility in Shiprock, New Mexico and has grown into a multi-utility enterprise. The NTUA service territory is 27,000 square miles, spreading across northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and a small portion of southeastern Utah. It is roughly equal to the size of the state of West Virginia.
Public Utilities Fortnightly is shining light on this ongoing project, which is seeking energy and utility companies to take part in Light Up Navajo, also providing financial assistance, in coming years.
Light Up Navajo conversations at fortnightly.com:
