PROJECT OVERVIEW

Elephant Energy has expanded to the Navajo Nation in the United States with the help of a small grant from the University of Colorado and our partners Dine Care.  Eagle Energy (as Elephant Energy is known on the Navajo Nation) is working to address the energy needs of rural Navajo families, an estimated 18,000 of which lack access to electricity, by demonstrating the feasibility of utilizing appropriate sustainable energy technologies (ASETs), like small solar-powered lights, to meet the energy needs of rural Indian communities. 

 
The Navajo Nation is a Native American reservation located on about 26,000 square miles of land in Northeastern Arizona, Southeastern Utah, and Northwestern New Mexico.  Despite its location within the United States, about 38 percent of households in the Navajo Nation lack electricity, and over 50 percent of Navajo live below the poverty line.  Despite requests for modern, grid-based power, the remote location of many Navajo households makes electricity extremely expensive, forcing many people to rely on wood and kerosene for energy. 

The Navajo Nation’s remote location and abundance of sunlight makes it ideal for the solar technologies that Eagle Energy provides.  New Mexico and Arizona are some of the best locations in the United States for solar power, and in many cases Navajo homes are far from the nearest electrical grid with little hope of being connected in the near future.  Solar technologies allow these remote locations to experience electric lighting immediately without any additional infrastructure costs.

Eagle Energy, with the help of Melton Martinez and Dine Care, is currently working with four Navajo Chapters in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation, including Baca Chapter, Thoreau Chapter, Pinedale Chapter, and Mariano Lake Chapter to discuss the most effective ways to finance and distribute ASETs in these rural communities.