Giving Back: Swinerton Energy

POWERING UP DISTANCE LEARNING from Coronado to the Navajo Nation

By Scarlett Chepke Photos Courtesy of Brian Doll and Laura Dearden

Volunteers are shown here assembling PowerUp! Distance learning kits for students living on Navajo and Hopi land in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

PowerUp! Distance learning kits.

As one of the top three hot spots for percapita COVID-19 cases in the country, the Navajo Nation is faced with many challenges during this pandemic. An estimated 30% of residents do not have access to clean water and an estimated 60,000 residents do not have access to power. School closures have pushed 46,000 children learning from the classroom to the home, where school supplies are sparse.

The ongoing crisis inspired a partnership between Swinerton Renewable Energy, the Heart of America Foundation, the Real Salt Lake (RSL) Foundation and Navajo tribal member and humanitarian, Mylo Fowler. Since May, the partners have distributed distance learning resources to 8,700 students living on Navajo and Hopi land in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

Building Good Energy on the Reservation

San Diego-based Swinerton Renewable Energy (SRE) is the largest solar EPC contractor in the United States. SRE has completed over 200 projects in 28 states, building enough solar capacity to power over 1.3 million homes. As a 100% employee-owned company, Swinerton appreciates the importance of giving back to the communities where we live and work.

In 2019, SRE served as the EPC contractor on the Kayenta 2 solar project, the country’s first tribally developed, owned and operated solar facility. Developed by the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), the Kayenta project not only provides local jobs and revenue, but the proceeds from the project also help fund Light Up Navajo, an initiative dedicated to the electrification of homes on the Navajo Nation. Following the completion of Kayenta, SRE made a long-term commitment to serve the people living in this region.

In 2019, SRE partnered with NTUA on an initiative called the Lightmakers Project to provide simple solar-powered solutions to Navajo homes in need of immediate power. Over the course of three trips to the Reservation, SRE equipped 43 homes with Yeti 150 Power Stations, Boulder 50 solar panel kits and Lighta-Life 350 LED lights from Goal Zero. Installed at no cost to owners, each home will save upwards of $300 per week – nearly $4,000 a year – otherwise spent on batteries, kerosene or other fossil fuels.

Partners Create Program to Aid Navajo Students

When COVID-19 shuttered schools across the country last spring, tribal member Mylo Fowler enlisted the aid of several organizations to help support Navajo families through this challenging time. Jennifer Hershman, SRE’s Community Relations Liaison and Coronado resident, first connected with Fowler through her company’s shared partnership with Goal Zero. SRE joined Heart of America, RSL, the charitable foundation of the Real Salt Lake professional soccer team, and Mylo to launch a program called PowerUp! Empowered Education.

The PowerUp! program provides free distance learning resources to Navajo Nation families. The Education Resource Packs assembled and distributed in a multiphase response provide a lifeline to thousands of students as they adapt to an at-home learning environment, often without access to reliable power and wi-fi. The kits include school supplies, STEM learning activities, books, PPE masks, hand sanitizer, a Goal Zero solar lantern and

PowerUp! Distance learning kits.

more.

“Now is the time to work together in support of those uniquely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis,” said Jennifer Hershman of Swinerton Renewable Energy. “Distance learning poses specific challenges to Navajo communities, where many live without access to the grid or reliable internet. Our partners have shown tremendous generosity in their support of this program, which will provide students with resources they need to continue learning and to stay connected through this isolating time.”

Six phases of the project have been completed so far, with volunteers gathering under safe social distance protocols most recently to pack and deliver 1,700 distance learning kits to students in Kayenta, the community in which SRE worked in 2019 and one of the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In all, the PowerUp! program has provided resources to over 30 K-12 schools in the Navajo Nation.

Whitehorse Work Continues

Swinerton Renewable Energy expanded the growing program partnership, working with environmental nonprofit, Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI), to develop Power Up-sponsored curriculum for Whitehorse High School (WHS) in Utah. WHS is a public, rural junior and senior high school serving students in grades 7-12. Less than 12% of the WHS students have access to wi-fi based on the rural areas they live in, and many also lack power and water.

As part of the PowerUp! initiative, students at Whitehorse High School will receive USB flash drives loaded with SEI curriculum. PowerUp! curriculum is tailored to students by grade, offering coursework for grades 7 through 12 and meets all Utah State Educational

This year’s Ms. Navajo Nation – Shaandiin P. Parrish of Kayenta Arizona helping with the donation boxes. Her first name in Navajo means “Sun beam through the clouds.”

Standards. The pre-loaded flash drives provide easily accessible content to students, removing the dependence on often unreliable wi-fi while schools are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will supply 560 total flash drives.

Once students and teachers are back on campus, SRE and SEI will continue with curriculum support and introduce hands-on STEM activities and PowerUp! Challenges.

The Solar Industry Steps Up

The PowerUp! program has gained the attention and support of Swinerton’s solar industry colleagues, and several partner companies have donated funds and supplies as part of the program. In April, Jinko Solar provided 50,000 masks to students, families and medical facilities in the Navajo Nation. Additional supporting industry partners include Construction Innovations, Blymyer Engineers, Shugar Magic Foundation, Elite Team Offices and Sungrow.

SRE has also been recognized for its work in the Navajo Nation. ENR Southwest named Kayenta 2 as a 2020 Best Project. On October 22, Swinerton Renewable Energy and program partners were chosen as The Cleanie Awards winner for Community Giveback. As the leading cleantech awards program, the Cleanie Awards innovation excellence, business leadership and superior outreach campaigns.

If you would like to learn more about PowerUp! and how you can help support the program, please email Jennifer Hershman, Community Relations Liaison for Swinerton Renewable Energy, at Jennifer.Hershman@swinerton. com

PowerUp! Distance learning backpacks.

Nick Barringer during a water rescue drill, jumping out of a helicopter into the ocean off Coronado