BPU Line Crew to Head to Navajo Nation to Provide First-Time Power to Homes

Five Kansas City Board of Public Utilities (BPU) lineworkers will depart on May 1 to participate in Light Up Navajo, a nationwide effort to bring electricity to homes on the Navajo Nation for the first time.

This marks BPU’s second year participating in the initiative, led by the American Public Power Association in partnership with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. The program brings public power utilities together to install electric infrastructure in some of the most remote areas of the country.

Representing BPU this year are Jeremiah Waldeck, superintendent; Eric Ferguson, Jake Janes, and James Golubski, linemen; and Austin Feaster, apprentice.

The crew will travel to the Navajo Nation to set poles, run electric lines and connect homes to the electric system, delivering power to families who have never had it.

The work is often done in extreme environments and rural conditions. During last year’s project, BPU crews set 60 poles spanning four miles to bring power to one home.

“Light Up Navajo is an important example of public power utilities working together to meet a real need,” said Jeremy Ash, general manager of BPU. “We are honored to support this effort and to send a skilled team that can safely extend electric service in some of the most remote areas of the Navajo Nation.”

For Feaster, the opportunity carries both professional and personal significance.

“I’m proud to represent BPU and Kansas City, Kansas, in this effort,” Feaster said. “We do this work every day, but getting to help bring power to a home for the first time is something you don’t take for granted.”

Light Up Navajo highlights the impact of public power utilities working together to expand access to reliable electricity and improve the quality of life in underserved communities.

For more information about the project, listen to the related Line Life Podcast episodes at linelife.podbean.com.