‘This is what we do’ SRP crew heads north to help connect Diné homes to the grid

By Marshall Baker
Navajo Times

PHOENIX

Fourteen Salt River Project line workers loaded up their utility vehicles early Saturday morning. They departed from the SRP Tempe Service Center to the Navajo Nation as part of the Light Up Navajo VI project.

Light Up Navajo is a collaborative initiative between the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, the American Public Power Association, and 44 utility companies across the United States to bring electricity to families in need in the Nation.

A collaborative mission to power Diné homes

According to the APPA, approximately 10,407 families are living without electricity in the Nation. Additionally, 75% of all U.S. households without power are located in the Navajo Nation. With access to electricity being a critical need for many families and especially elders, initiatives like this have made significant strides in providing the infrastructure needed to improve the lives of many.

“It makes you feel a good feeling,” said Mark Sienicki, a foreman with SRP and a tenured member of the project. “It’s kind of a unique situation. The jobs are big, the terrain is horrible, we’ve been rained on, snowed on, sleeted on––you name it. We’ve hit it all.”

Sienicki has been a part of the Light Up Navajo Initiative since SRP joined the effort five years ago. The initial pilot project in the spring of 2019 brought together volunteer crews from across the country and within six weeks, they were able to connect more than 230 Navajo homes to the electrical grid, reducing the number of total homes in the U.S. without electricity by one percent. The success of the first project served as the model for future endeavors and provided the groundwork to continue this volunteer-based effort.

Connecting families to electricity for the first time

Since the project began, SRP has been able to connect hundreds of households to power for the first time. In last year’s efforts, 170 homes were connected over 13 weeks. In the year before that, 159 homes were connected by a group of 176 volunteers from 26 utilities from 16 states. This expansive, multiagency effort has made big improvements in providing a critical need for families in the Nation, largely consisting of crews and volunteers who have an interest in helping others who need it.

“I’m excited to bring power to those people out there,” said Thomas Gerbig, a journeyman lineman who will be partaking in this for the first time this year. “I know about running power to people that have no power. I’ve done that pretty much my whole career. So I’m excited to get back up there and be able to do some stuff like that for people that are in need.”

SRP line workers head to northern Arizona

SRP’s portion of the project will be completed on April 20. The self-sufficient crew of 14 will travel and be working in the Dilkon District near Leupp, Arizona. Workers will be installing poles, transformers, and electrical lines in remote areas as well as assisting in larger projects with the NTUA. Last year, SRP crews installed 137 poles, 16 transformers, and 82,467 feet of electrical line, bringing electricity to 17 homes.

“I believe they believe in the mission,” said Sienicki. “SRP believes in the mission, and we go up there just to help our neighbors and to make their lives better. This is what we do. They’re letting us do what we do.”

Tackling remote terrain, one home at a time

Having participated in years past, Sienicki has become accustomed to the sometimes-difficult terrain and the vast distance between homes in the Navajo Nation. Although tens of thousands of feet of electrical lines were installed last year, the SRP crew connected only 17 homes to electricity in total for their portion of the project. Despite the low numbers, Sienicki has returned and volunteered his time because of how it fulfills him as a person.

“My goal when I’m done, I want to see them turn the light on,” said Sienicki. “And when they turn that light on, I am done. I have completed my task and they’re usually smiling or happy, and you know you changed someone’s life at that point.”

With this being the sixth year, there is a lot more work to be done. Sienicki doesn’t hope to be working as a foreman for the foreseeable future but remains committed to this initiative and wants to see the goals of the project achieved.

“The original mission was to make sure everyone had power. We are not there yet,” said Sienicki. “So this mission is going to go on until we complete that. And I believe SRP is in for the long haul.”

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