Energizing the Desert Nation

The federally recognized tribe of the Tohono O’odham Nation includes 28,000 members in the Southwestern region of Arizona. As the second largest reservation in Arizona, roughly the size of Connecticut, its four non-contiguous segments total 2.8 million acres, or 4,460 square miles, at an elevation of 2,674 feet.

For over 40 years, the nation remained energized by a 230kV substation with two 69kV feeds and four distribution substations under Papago Utility Authority- later changed to Tohono O’odham Utility Authority (TOUA). That is until June 2017, when a lightning strike caused catastrophic failure and left the entire reservation without power.