Navajo Nation

Population: 173,667
Size: 24,156 sq. mi.
Median household income: $27,389

The Navajo Nation passed the Energy Policy Act of 2013, which mandates the establishment of a Navajo Nation Energy Office. The Energy Office, when established, will function as a central agency for the assessment, prioritization, and development of renewable energy projects.  Executive Order 10-2014 established the Energy Policy Implementation Task Force (EPITF), which was charged with developing procedures for energy project review by the Executive Branch. Procedures for the development of energy projects were finalized by the EPITF in October 2014.  When the Energy Office is fully established, the EPITF will dissolve.

The Navajo Nation has its own utility authority, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), which provides electric service to the entire reservation and gets considerable power from hydroelectric facilities. NTUA operates an off-grid renewable energy program to provide electric service to customers outside the geographic range of its electricity grid. NTUA operates roughly 300 off-grid solar and wind installations, and provides operation and maintenance services.  NTUA is also currently pursuing the development of a number of community- and utility-scale solar projects.

The Navajo Nation and NTUA have performed wind assessments and feasibility investigations with private development partners at a number of sites on and off the Navajo Reservation, including Gray Mountain and the Big Boquillas ranch, but none of the projects are moving forward at this time. The Nation is considering additional utility-scale solar projects, but details of project development or discussion with developers are not public.

The Navajo Nation has been the recipient of a number of DOE Tribal Energy Program grants, including a 2012 project to explore development of up to 4,000 MW of solar PV at Paragon-Bisti Ranch, and a 2005 grant to perform wind resource assessment and feasibility studies to evaluate the potential for wind development on the Nation.

This information was gathered from conversations with tribal representatives and web searches. The census data was found online and represents 2010 figures.

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