Coverage of tribal natural resources is supported in part by Catena Foundation
The Tribal Electrification Program will initially allocate $72.5 million to help get some Native households on the grid while retrofitting others.
That federal funding will be used to finance home repairs and outfit homes that currently don't have electricity with zero-emission energy systems.
The U.S. Department of Interior's initiative derives from the Inflation Reduction Act, the nation’s largest investment in climate and energy, which passed a year ago. It also aligns with the Biden administration’s goal of creating a carbon pollution-free energy sector by 2035.
More than a third of all residences on the Hopi reservation and a fifth of homes on the Navajo Nation remain without electricity.
The full application period opens in early November with a deadline set for late December.
