Arizona opinion: Fairness must prevail in TEP’s negotiations with Navajo Nation

Tucson Electric Power must have marveled at the deal they got from the Navajo Nation in 1973.

The utility planned to build a 500-mile transmission line from northern New Mexico, through tribal lands, to its customers in Southern Arizona. But first, it needed an agreement with the Tribe for 102 miles of right-of-way easements across 14 Navajo Chapters.

TEP negotiated a one-time payment of $34,948, covering 50 years, with the tribe’s central government.

Doing the math, that’s about 17 cents per acre per year, exponentially less than the Bureau of Land Management required of transmission-line developers in Navajo and Coconino counties in 1980.

Today, the BLM, Arizona and New Mexico State Land Departments require utilities to pay anywhere between $200 to $300 an acre a year.

Meanwhile, TEP earned $1.875 billion in 2023.

Now, TEP is back, seeking a right-of-way renewal agreement for the next 50 years from the 14 impacted Chapters. These Navajo communities and people deserve a fair deal for their future.

For nearly half a century, TEP and other utilities have benefited from discounted rates and subsidized water and coal in their leases with the Navajo Nation. They’ve taken advantage of tribal resources and denied the tribe the ability to transition its economy after coal-fired plant closures.

Across the U.S., transmission lines are needed to expand renewable energy projects. Right-of-way agreements are expiring and being renegotiated, and transmission line owners are recognizing the need to offer communities and people hosting these lines through various compensation options and direct or indirect assistance.

TEP must acknowledge the historic energy injustices from which it and other power companies have benefited. Rather than continuing to profit from cheap Navajo power, water and land, TEP must pay current rates for access to Tribal lands.

And Navajo local governments must stand up for their communities and people because, all too often, they are first to be impacted and the last to receive benefits.

We call on TEP to negotiate an agreement with the Navajo Nation that reflects the current market rates, and ensures Chapters receive community benefits that are reasonable and equitable.

TEP knows better. And it must do better.