Navajo energy firm partners with Provo’s Humless

Big Navajo Energy, a Navajo owned renewable energy company, said it is partnering with Provo-based Humless to bring solar-battery based power systems to more than 18,000 families on the Navajo reservation that do not have electricity.

Humless, a division of Food for Health International produces a lithium battery-based "generator" that can be used as a primary or secondary source of electricity. The battery can be recharged using solar panels.
The Navajo Nation is located in southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. Salt Lake Tribune

Bill may use water rights to develop on reservation

Culinary water for San Juan County’s Navajo residents on the reservation is on the minds of the San Juan County Commission and the Utah State Legislature during this legislative session.

Commissioner Bruce Adams reported that he had testified before a legislative committee last week on the need for culinary water on the reservation using the Navajo water right from the San Juan River.

The state is considering a $154 million project to supply water to Monument Valley using a 24-inch water line that would run from Mexican Hat to Monument Valley. The water would be treated in Mexican Hat and then distributed using lift stations and storage tanks.

Adams reports that the committee unanimously approved the project. There will also be two or three additional projects in the future to supply treated culinary water to other areas of the reservation. San Juan Record

Legislature passes 2-year extension of trust fund programs

The Utah State Legislature has passed Senate Bill 237, which provides for the continuation of college level financial aid to Utah Navajo students and the continued use of funds for pre-approved housing and other projects until 2012. Governor Gary R. Herbert signed this legislation into law on March 25, 2010. “We were happy to work on this bill. It was the right thing to do and now the Utah Navajos can continue their education and complete badly needed housing projects for another two years,” said David Hinkins Orangeville, sponsor of the bill.

“As a former education administrator, it’s satisfying to see our efforts resulting in meeting some of the educational needs of our Navajo constituents” said Christine Watkins (D) Price, who managed the bill in the House of Representatives. The State of Utah-Navajo Trust Fund (UNTF) administered these programs until 2008, when the UNTF was dissolved. A transition organization – the Navajo Royalties Holding Fund (UNRHF) – was established to administer the fund until a new trustee is designated by the U.S. Congress. The UNRHF was scheduled to wind down college financial aid to new college students by June, 2010, but now the UNRHF will continue to serve Utah Navajo students for the next two years or until a new trustee takes over, whichever comes first. San Juan Record