All New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman needed to hear was “thank-you” - and that’s exactly what he heard from elderly Nenahnezad resident Jean Boone.
     “Ahee’hee, Nizhonii yeh,” Grandma Boone told Sen. Bingaman and his staff. She not only said “Ahee’hee” once or twice, she repeated the thankful phrase several times.
     For the first time, the NM Senator visited a Navajo Electrification Demonstration Project (NEDP). Senator Bingaman co-sponsored the bill in Congress to bring NEDP funding to the Navajo Nation in 2002 - legislation that has provided electrical line extensions to many homes. He wanted to see how those funds have been spent and to visit with families who have benefited from the NEDP grant. The Senator was amazed that the families live less than one mile from a power plant and yet, they had been living without electrical power.      Grandma Boone and her children told the Senator that they had been waiting more than 30 years for electricity. Last December was the first time they plugged in Christmas lights. Another NEDP recipient, Alice Benally, thanked the crew of Shiprock District for working in harsh weather conditions to complete the line extension to her home in time for Christmas 2005. “It was cold out there as I watched them work,” she said. “I do appreciate that they did their job even though the weather was cold and windy.”
     NTUA representatives Larry Ahasteen (HQ-Engineering), Reevis Begay (Shiprock District), and Sharon John (Shiprock District ) were also on hand to provide updated information to the Senator about the progress of NEDP, such as the number of homes hooked up and the number of projects.