A tribe planned to connect 600 homes to electricity. Then the funding was cut
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On the Hopi Reservation in northeast Arizona, many people still are not connected to the power grid. The tribe had planned to equip hundreds of homes with solar panels and batteries to get them access to reliable electricity, but the Trump administration has canceled funding for that program. NPR's Nate Perez reports.
NATE PEREZ, BYLINE: Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma is driving through the Hopi Reservation. Outside, the desert landscape doesn't seem to end. Giant flattop mesas loom in the distance. Approaching the village of Hotevilla, Nuvangyaoma says people here face significant challenges.
TIM NUVANGYAOMA: So as you come this way, you'll see that there's no power, and this is all Hopi.
PEREZ: Nearly 3,000 people on the reservation aren't connected to electricity. Families rely on generators to power refrigerators, medical devices and more. Even for those who are connected to the grid, power's unstable. Nuvangyaoma worries about that.
NUVANGYAOMA: So if you have a power surge or any kind of power outage, you're definitely going to lose that power to that equipment that somebody's life might be reliant on.
PEREZ: The situation on Hopi isn't unique. There's about 54,000 tribal members across the country who don't have access to electricity. That's according to the Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy and Policy. Wahleah Johns directed the office during the Biden administration. She says tribes were often left out as energy infrastructure was built across the West.
WAHLEAH JOHNS: As they were building out the transmission lines, they excluded tribes - tribal lands.
PEREZ: In 2022, Congress tried to address this problem through the Inflation Reduction Act. It provided billions of dollars for tribes to build renewable energy infrastructure. The Hopi received a $25 million grant through a program called Solar for All. The money would go towards installing solar panels and battery storage for around 600 homes. They started work this summer. But in August, the Trump administration terminated the Solar for All program, calling it wasteful. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the change in a video posted to the agency's YouTube page.
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LEE ZELDIN: EPA no longer has the authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive.
PEREZ: That's because of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress this summer. Zeldin said the law halted future funding, including money that had already been set aside for tribes. Without the funding from Solar for All, Hopi will only be able to provide electricity to around 100 homes instead of 600. Hopi Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma says that's hard news to deliver.
NUVANGYAOMA: Especially when you offer somebody hope. You know, the rug gets pulled out from them.
PEREZ: The Hopi were also counting on tax credits from the IRA to fund a separate solar project that could power the entire reservation, but Congress is ending those tax credits sooner than expected. Wahleah Johns says the IRA was huge for tribes because it offered access to funding and loans that were never available before. Johns says now much of that is going away.
JOHNS: Eliminating these clean-energy programs within the IRA isn't just bad policy. It's a betrayal of the federal government's trust responsibility to tribes.
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PEREZ: Nuvangyaoma says Hopi aren't giving up on providing electricity to tribal members.
NUVANGYAOMA: We have a heck of a plan. I refuse to let that sit on the shelf and collect dust.
PEREZ: Hopi and other tribes plan to sue the administration to reinstate Solar for All funding, and they say they'll look for investors to support future solar projects.
For NPR News, I'm Nate Perez.
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