American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Using data from the United States Census 1990, the Energy Information Administration estimated in 2000 that 36.8 percent of the 29,375 occupied housing units on the Navajo Nation lacked electricity. The Navajo Nation has very low population densities, and the large distances between homes make the cost of providing conventional sources of electricity prohibitive. Arizona Public Service, the primary provider of electricity in Arizona, estimates the cost of erecting power lines to be roughly $25,000 to $30,000 per mile, an impossible sum for most families in this region, where the unemployment rate hovers around 50 percent. Given the extremely low population densities, it is simply inconceivable that many houses could be connected to the power grid. More recent calculations, based on Census 2000 data, show that between 10,000 and 23,000 homes need some type of electricity provision system that is not connected to the grid. An estimate of 18,000 homes appears to be a reasonable current target figure (this number could very well increase as the population grows). The predicted cost of any program providing electricity and the associated appliances to these homes falls between $115 and $350 million. Using the baseline figure of 18,000 homes, the estimate is roughly $235 million. These are costs above the typical construction costs for the expected new housing units. The authors have completed an analysis of the potential success of a small business operating on the Navajo Nation installing self-contained solar systems, including battery storage, for these 18,000 homes. Several scenarios were analyzed, and the individual prices of the systems ranged from $10,000 to $19,000, depending on the size of the system and the level of retail markup.