Electricity is something we often take for granted in the United States, but for the San Carlos Apache Tribe in southeastern Arizona, power outages are a regular occurrence. The tribe’s chairman, Terry Rambler, is demanding answers after a recent storm caused a major transmission line to fail, leaving half of the reservation without electricity for 21 hours.
According to tribal officials, this transmission line is outdated and unreliable, leading to frequent power outages that can last for days. Despite repeated requests for federal authorities to replace the line, little has been done to address the issue.
Rambler has taken the matter to Interior Secretary Deborah Haaland, seeking funding solutions to prevent future outages. In an effort to support tribal energy projects, the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $30 million in grants for clean energy planning and development.
While significant investments have been made in tribal energy projects across the country, there has been little focus on modernizing electrical grid systems on the San Carlos reservation, which spans 1.8 million acres across three Arizona counties.
The San Carlos Irrigation Project, established in 1924, was intended to provide electricity and irrigation water to residents on and off the reservation. However, with the current state of the transmission line, reliable electricity remains a challenge for the tribe.
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