While extractive energy industries such as coal have played a critical role in driving the Navajo Nation’s economy for decades, closures of coal mines and coal-fired power plants are and will be coming at the cost of local employment, revenue, energy sources, and other services in the region. Navajo Power, a Public Benefits Corporation with a majority Native board, strives to empower communities on the Navajo Nation through development of clean energy projects. In 2021, Navajo Power proposed a commercial solar project on reclaimed mine land owned by the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry (NAPI) and is currently competing to secure a lease for the land. A unique feature of the proposal is its focus on agrivoltaics, which seeks to combine solar photovoltaics with agriculture and potentially rotational sheep grazing.
