But Benally – like 13,000 families in roughly a third of Navajo Nation households – is still off the electrical grid. But while private companies tapped those resources in the 20th century to help electrify areas around the Southwest, the Navajo Nation reaped few benefits. Linemen work to install power lines to bring electricity to the Navajo Nation. Today, it costs the Navajo Nation $40,000 per family, largely due to the remote, desert land. William Lee Tom Jr. screws in a lightbulb at his Navajo Nation home.

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