Edwin D. Hill

August 11, 1937 – December 1, 2018

Ed Hill was a compassionate human being who sought social justice through the economic advancement of workers and their families. He was a trade unionist to the core, who understood that worker empowerment came from organizing and grassroots political action. He was a visionary who saw no borders separating power professionals around the world, and called on them to serve, bringing electricity and hope to communities in the greatest of need.  

Hailing from Beaver County Pennsylvania, Ed followed in his father’s footsteps to become a journeyman electrician, joining the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) when he was still a teenager. Not long after finishing his apprenticeship, he was appointed to the union’s political action committee, and from that point onward began a trade union career spanning six decades.

As he rose through the ranks of leadership, eventually becoming International President and an influential power broker in Washington, he never forgot where he came from nor the electrical workers he steadfastly represented. His dedication to working people everywhere never wavered and earned him the respect and admiration of industry and political leaders worldwide. United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking at his memorial noted, “Ed was driven by an inexhaustible passion for improving lives…. when it comes to the health and economic security of working people, few leaders have stood taller or spoken louder.”

Shortly after retiring as IBEW International President, he returned to Beaver and centered his focus on international development, leveraging his unique knowledge of the power industry and his network of over 750,000 skilled professionals. In 2016 he founded Electrical Workers without Borders North America, EWWBNA, and, in a short time, established a mission, direction and solid base for us to carry on his dream of a world where the benefits of electricity can be made available to everyone.

Ed’s Story

Ed was born in the middle of the Great Depression in Center Township, Pennsylvania, a rural community on the Ohio River about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. His parents, William Hill, and Bessie Weigle Hill, came from farming families whose livelihoods were intertwined with the mining, oil, and steel industries of the region. Ed was the second of three children, with an older brother and a younger sister. During the Depression, the region suffered great economic hardship, and the Hill family, like so many others in this era, worked hard to make ends meet.

When Ed was just four years old, Imperial Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II. Ed would recall the wartime years and the rationing of gasoline, butter, and other commodities.  In 1942, his father, at the age of 36, was drafted into the Army which was unusual since he was older than most draftees and was married with three children. At first, he was stationed in South Carolina, and Ed would remember his father sending packages home including a pup tent that he and his brother would use to sleep outside. In 1943, his Father broke his back while training for D-Day and was reassigned to Arkansas for military police training. His young family was then able to join him and travelled with him to other assignments in Northern and Southern California. They settled for some time in Manzanita near San Diego, and, over the years, Ed would recount fond childhood memories of living on base in Southern California.

Shortly after the war, the Hill family returned home to Pennsylvania and found a very different place from what they had left: industry boomed during the war, and the economy around the confluence of the Ohio and Beaver Rivers had grown and prospered. In the post-war years, the standard of living of most everyone rose. Ed’s father found steady work as an electrician and became involved in the IBEW, which flourished as many trade unions did at this time.

As a teenager in the 1950’s, Ed attended Freedom High School across the Ohio River from Center Township. Like so many young men from his era, he was fascinated with cars. He became quite adept at engine building and turning old jalopies into hot rods and winning drag races at local racetracks. He also enjoyed motorcycles and raced motocross. He was an avid hunter, and along with his father, brother, and cousins, would frequent hunting camps in the western Pennsylvania preserves.

In 1956, he entered the electrical apprenticeship program at IBEW Local 712 in Beaver, PA.  As an apprentice he experienced first-hand the benefits of collective bargaining – for a young man he earned a decent living with healthcare, a pension and other benefits while at the same time learning a trade that would give him the professional knowhow to enjoy a long and prosperous livelihood. By the time he completed his apprenticeship in 1960, he found his calling – a trade union career that would last a lifetime.

While still an apprentice, Ed was called to a job in Midland, PA. That small job at Midland Auto Sales was quite fateful because there he would meet his future wife, Rosemary Monaco, who worked after school at the shop owned by her uncle. Rosemary came from a close-knit Italian family with deep roots in the mountainous region of Abruzzo, Italy. They married in 1956, and shortly after began having a family: two daughters, Michelle and Toni, and a son, Ed Jr.  Although Ed’s parents were devoted Christians it was after his marriage to Rosemary and his conversion to Catholicism that he became a devoted follower of the Catholic faith, whose teachings, especially those promoting social justice, would have a profound influence on Ed’s life.

n his first year as a journeyman wireman, Ed was appointed to the union’s political action committee, which he chaired soon after, and became involved in the local Building Trades and AFL-CIO, stumping for pro-union politicians at all levels. Ed also worked with three others to start the Local 712 Credit Union and established a scholarship program for members’ children. When he was 26, he was elected Vice President of the local and not long after he was elected President. Meanwhile he continued to work as an electrician in the construction of nuclear power plants, factories and large infrastructure projects in the region.

But tragedy can fall upon good times when least expected. In November 1966, while working for Millcreek Electric at the Westinghouse Plant in Beaver, Ed and two other Local 712 members were seriously injured in an industrial accident. A crane failed and the control box fell to the ground injuring several including Ed, who suffered severe injuries, the deleterious effects of which would persist for the rest of his life. It was a miracle he survived.

With several broken bones, lacerations, and months of recovery in the hospital with reconstructive bone and plastic surgery, it looked as though he would never return to work to support his young family. But during this crisis, the union and the membership to which he was so loyal, gave back to him, showing its loyalty many times over by supporting him and his family at this most unfortunate time. As Ed slowly recovered, he took on more roles at the local union. However,  the injuries he sustained made it uncertain if he could return as a full-time journeyman wireman. He did return to the tools, but the leadership bug had taken hold, and, during this time, he became president of the Young Democrats of Beaver County. Ed worked long hours on the job and off to promote Local 712 and politicians who backed the causes of organized labor.

Within a few years after the accident, Ed was elected Business Manager of Local 712, a coveted full-time union position. At the time he was among the youngest IBEW business managers in the country, and he took on this role with great fervor. It was 1970, the beginning of a new decade and a time of economic and social challenges nationwide. As much of the country experienced recession and job losses, the Beaver County region continued to prosper with the construction of the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant, while the steel mills and associated infrastructure continued to need maintenance and upgrades.

Under Ed’s leadership, Local 712 became one of the busiest locals in the country which resulted in greater prominence for the IBEW in Pennsylvania. In addition to the many duties as Business Manager, Ed was elected President of the Beaver County Central Labor Council, and shortly after was elected Vice President of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, a position he held for over 20 years. He became a frequent visitor to Harrisburg, the state capital, and worked tirelessly building relationships and promoting pro-union political candidates at every level. He developed a close and strategic friendship with Lt. Governor Ernie Kline as well as with several state delegates and senators including Bob Casey who would later be elected Governor of Pennsylvania for two terms.

Though Ed would do most anything to benefit workers and their families, he was also an economic realist. He believed in quality craftsmanship and the dignity of work, and the need to promote excellence to keep the membership working and negotiating their fair share. He understood that labor and management have interests in conflict, but they also have interests in common, and unless structures are built and programs are created around issues where they have a common objective, the focus would tend to center on issues in conflict. He was a savvy leader who built relationships with industry and with politicians on both sides of the aisle, and would say, “It’s harder to say no to someone you like than to say no to someone you don’t like.”

Following the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, economic recession hit most of the nation, and many unemployed IBEW members became travelers. Since Western Pennsylvania was uniquely shielded from most of the effects of the recession, hundreds of electricians from other union locals flocked to Beaver, and although the vast majority were looking for an opportunity to go to work, there were some troublemakers among the travelers. Ed was committed to provide opportunities for hardworking IBEW members from other locals, but he saw the tactics of a few detractors as detrimental to labor-management relations, potentially costing Local 712 members their hard-earned reputation for quality work and eventually their jobs. Ed’s efforts to preclude disruptions on worksites led to frivolous but costly lawsuits that went on for several years. In time, Ed’s approach to advance worker excellence helped improve relationships with employers and served as best-practice models for marketing the economic benefits of job safety and high-quality work.

In 1982, Ed was appointed “International Representative” for the Third District by then IBEW President Charles Pillard, expanding his trade union and political role in Pennsylvania as well as in the nearby states of New York, New Jersey and Delaware. In 1994 he was appointed Vice President of the Third District, overseeing the largest district at the time within the IBEW. In 1997, he was appointed IBEW International Secretary and moved to Washington, and shortly thereafter the offices of Secretary and Treasurer were combined, and Ed assumed the role of Secretary/Treasurer. Upon the retirement of IBEW International President Jack Barry in January of 2001, Ed was appointed as International President and was subsequently elected at the IBEW Convention in San Francisco which took place the week of September 11, 2001.

As International President, Ed brought to the position a unique hands-on experience of organizing, business development and political action at the grassroots level and applied his experiences and best practices from other regions at the international level (USA and Canada). He transitioned the IBEW into the “computer age”, started the highly successful IBEW Hour Power, established the IBEW Code of Excellence and created the IBEW Business Development Department which focuses on creating job opportunities and organizing new contractors through relationship building with construction owners and utilities. And in a nod to fellow IBEW motorcyclists, who shared Ed’s passion for the road, he founded the Annual IBEW Motorcycle Ride which has benefited several charities.

In Washington, he was a highly respected leader within the North American Building Trades Unions (NABTU) and at the AFL-CIO and on Capitol Hill. Ed was a recipient of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Distinguished Public Service Award, which honors individuals whose careers exemplify President Roosevelt’s dedication to public service. He created, along with the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the National Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee (LAMPAC) which brings together industry executives and union leaders to advance the common objectives of the electric power industry. Since Ed’s passing, the LAMPAC created the “Ed Hill Award”, given annually to “those who advance state and local initiatives on behalf of the power industry and IBEW members”.

Through his close friend and protegee Mark Ayers, an IBEW leader and former President of NABTU, Ed developed a strong bond with the Italian Federation of Electrical Utility Workers (FLAEI) and a special personal friendship with the union’s Secretary General Carlo De Masi. Carlo, a devoted Catholic, shared Ed’s interest in the Church’s “Social Doctrine” and its teachings on human and trade union rights. Carlo was also an internationalist and for many years was involved in goodwill projects in developing countries together with Vatican non-profits.

During the 2011 IBEW Convention in Vancouver, Ed invited a delegation of union leaders from Italy and other countries, and the slogan of the Convention was “Brotherhood Without Borders”. And there was a 10-year commemoration honoring several IBEW members who lost their lives while working at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. During the commemoration, the names of the fallen IBEW members were read, and Carlo De Masi quickly realized that most of the victims had Italian surnames. When Carlo was asked to address the Convention, he took the opportunity to honor the victims and said, “They were your brothers, and many of them were our sons, sons of Italy, and we feel the pain just as you do.”  Following the speech, Ed met with Carlo and IBEW New York City Business Manager Chris Erikson, and they committed to jointly honoring the Italian American victims. Two years later, the FLAEI and the IBEW organized a special commemoration in Padova, Italy the site of the largest September 11 memorial outside of the United States.

Following a devastating earthquake in Haiti, Carlo De Masi along with other Italian union leaders and Vatican officials called on Ed to assist in rebuilding a Don Bosco school in Port-au-Prince which had suffered the deaths of hundreds of students and teachers and the near-complete destruction of its campus. Ed assigned his Vice President, Joe Davis, and Miami IBEW Local 349 Business Manager Bill Riley to lead the IBEW’s effort on the project. The experience of sending IBEW volunteers to Haiti to rebuild the school led to discussions of doing similar projects in other countries.

In 2014, Ed led an IBEW delegation to Italy, and in addition to meetings with Vatican officials and union and industry leaders, Ed was the first American to be honored at a special ceremony in Assisi of the Italian Golden Eagle, an award given annually to distinguished individuals of Italian descent who, through their careers, have advanced human rights and freedom. Ed, by chance, was eligible for the award since the family of his wife Rosemary came from Corfinio, Italy – the homeplace of the award. The award is one of Italy’s highest honors and is recognized by the Italian Presidency, Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The only other American recipient of the Award was United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In early 2015, during an IBEW conference in Washington, Carlo De Masi was invited to address participants, and, during his speech, he announced the creation of “Elettrici Senza Frontiere Italia” (Electrical Workers Without Borders Italy). Following Carlo’s speech, Ed proposed that the IBEW should create a similar non-profit, working together with the Italians and other countries to field volunteer electrical workers on goodwill projects around the world. Two months later, Ed would retire as International President of the IBEW, and, with the support of his successor Lonnie Stephenson, he began the process of organizing Electrical Workers Without Borders North America.

Ed’s vision was to bring together on-going volunteer efforts associated with IBEW locals and individual members and expand on and channel this spirit of goodwill to make a greater impact.  In a short time, Ed organized a steering committee, bylaws, and incorporation documents and established EWWBNA as a 501-c-3 tax-exempt non-profit with the United States government. He named a board of directors and began the process of fund raising, identifying volunteers and drafting project implementation plans. And seeing the benefit of creating synergies with other international partners, he brought EWWBNA into an alliance with Electrical Workers Without Borders Italy and sister non-profit organizations in France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.

In the months before he passed away, Ed led a delegation to Haiti to develop workplans for several projects, moved forward a workplan with Italian partners to install a solar array for a maternity hospital in Angola and initiated the first steps to organizing a joint fundraising gala together with partners of the Italian Golden Eagle Award.

Ed Hill has left us at EWWBNA with a rich legacy of ideas, a solid structure, and an expansive network in the power industry to build upon. But more importantly his compassion and spirit of volunteerism has endowed us with a conviction to carry on his dream of a world where the benefits of electricity can be made available to everyone.

In a letter from Carlo De Masi for his departed friend’s memorial, he wrote, “Ed, we still had so many projects to move forward, and we spoke about them almost every week … But it seems the good Lord had other good projects for you to complete up there in heaven. Good travels my friend and may the Lord have you in his glory.”

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Fondation Vincent
Cap Haitian, Haiti

The Fondation Vincent is an education center administered by the Salesians of Don Bosco in Cap Haitian, Haiti’s second largest city.

The center provides hundreds of disadvantaged youth primary and secondary education and skills training in several crafts as well as support for an orphanage adjacent to the center.

In 2018, an EWWBNA delegation, led by EWWBNA founder Ed Hill, visited the Fondation Vincent and made commitments to improve the center’s electrical system. Shortly after, EWWBNA sent Wally St. Hilaire, a wireman from IBEW Miami Local 349, to work on a needs assessment which has led to a proposal for a 240kw solar array to replace the center’s dependency on outdated diesel generators and an unreliable grid that provides only 6 hours of electricity on a good day. But since then, political turmoil, increasingly violent gangs, and Covid-19 travel restrictions have caused EWWBNA to postpone the action plan.

Despite the unfortunate circumstance, the commitment to the Foundation Vincent continues. In video conferences with the Fondation Vincent, though intermittent due to limited internet, EWWBNA learned running water was the center’s most urgent need. Only one of four wells functioned, and that one well depended on a pump installed over 20 years ago.

Initially, EWWBNA planned to send a 6kw mobile solar unit along with well pumps to help alleviate the situation but learned connecting the unit to the center’s electrical infrastructure would be more complex than expected, and there were concerns also for securing the unit from theft.

In a conference call with the Fondation Vincent, EWWBNA President Don Siegel proposed a solar-well pump to meet the immediate need for water. The foundation director, Father Pierre, responded, “Yes. Water is life! We can locate a pump in Port-au-Prince”. 

Within a week, Father Pierre found a modest pump system to meet the needs of the residential area at a cost of $6,000. EWWBNA wired the funds, and, in less than a month, students in the electrical and welding workshops, under the supervision of instructors, installed the system. Father Pierre reports the system is working great.

Given the success of the solar-well pump, EWWBNA has agreed to fund a higher-capacity solar-pump system to meet the water needs of other parts of the campus.

Read more about our projects in Haiti

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Prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic, EWWBNA agreed to partner with ESF Italy on a project to assist a congregation of Catholic nuns to upgrade the electrical needs of their convent which includes a pre-school and a community training center in Huacho, Peru which is approximately 100 miles north of Lima. Hatzel and Buehler, a Delaware-based electrical contractor, agreed to provide support for the project and send an IBEW volunteer to work with Italian volunteers to assess and follow through with the project. The effort was scheduled to commence in March 2020, but, unfortunately, it was postponed, among several other EWWBNA projects, due to the Pandemic, which had a particularly severe impact on Peru. After successive waves of Covid waned, and vaccination rates and immunity increased, EWWBNA and ESF Italy determined it was time to get back to work.

More than two years after the initial start date, ESF Italy contracted a local subsidiary of ENEL, an Italian multinational energy company which supports ESF Italy, to assist with a solar installation in Huacho, and EWWBNA agreed to cover 50% of the cost. In July-August, the two organizations sent volunteers to inspect the work and to make recommendations for a follow up effort. Representing EWWBNA on this mission was Jim Beck, a long-time member of IBEW Local 98 and a Hatzel and Buehler employee with prior experience volunteering in Peru.

While in Peru, Jim and Riccardo Porcu, an ESF Italy volunteer, travelled to Huacho and inspected the solar installation and made a thorough assessment of other needs of the “Oblatas del Nino Jesus”, a congregation founded in 1672 that focuses on assisting disadvantaged women and children. They also travelled to Chosica to assess the electrical needs of programs run by the Camillian Fathers, an order of the Catholic Church founded in the 1500’s that focuses on meeting the healthcare needs of the poorest of the poor. They visited two Camillian facilities – one included an orphanage, a school, a donation center, a food kitchen, and an oxygen plant while the other was a home for orphaned children suffering from HIV. They finished the mission with a visit to another convent of the “Oblatas del Nino Jesus” in Chaclacayo to assess their needs.

Since the volunteer mission, EWWBNA and ESF Italy have held several zoom meetings to discuss follow up and budgetary needs for carrying out the work. Also, Jim Beck was a guest on the “Labor Show”, a weekly radio talk show in Philadelphia, and spoke about his experience in Peru. When asked what he would say to other electricians, especially young people, about volunteering, Jim responded, “If there is time you can dedicate to helping a community which has very, very little it makes you appreciate what we have here at home”. Jim added, that if called again to serve he would respond “at the drop of a hat and have my bags packed tomorrow”.

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In June 2018, four volunteers from IBEW Local 3 New York made the long journey to southern Angola to bring a much needed electrical upgrade to a maternity/pediatric hospital in the village of Chiulo. The project, which involved the installation of a 50kw solar mini-grid and an electrical renovation of the entire hospital compound, was carried out together with several volunteers from Italy.

Leading the New York volunteers was Louis Alvarez, a journeyman electrician and veteran of IBEW’s humanitarian efforts in Puerto Rico, and joining him were Alex Alcantara, Everest Campbell, and William Bonaparte.

The Chiulo Hospital is supported by CUAMM – Doctors With Africa – Italy’s leading non-profit focused on healthcare in Sub-Sahara Africa. CUAMM fields annually hundreds of volunteer doctors and medical professionals in several countries in Africa to support much needed medical facilities. The Chiulo Hospital supports a network of 36 healthcare centers in Cunene Province and includes a training program for nurses. Hundreds of expecting mothers, with children in tow, travel long distances, often on foot, to reach the hospital. The off-grid hospital formerly relied on outdated diesel generators that were unreliable and expensive to operate.

The solar panels, storage batteries and other equipment and materials were donated by Enel Green Power, the renewable energy arm of the Italian energy multinational ENEL, and BTicino , a leading Italian electrical supplies manufacturer.

The New York volunteers, working in solidarity with their Italian counterparts, concentrated their efforts on connecting the solar array, installing circuit boxes and electrifying for the first time the housing for expecting mothers and their children. The volunteers were deeply moved by the expressions of thanks and appreciation from the Angolans, and bonded in lasting friendships with the Italian volunteers.

Read more about the Chiulo project in The Electrical Worker.

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They are separated by nearly 4,000 miles. But, linemen members of Seattle-based IBEW local 77 and utility workers on the West Indian island of St. Kitts, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, share the same need—to return home to their families at the end of their workdays safe and sound.

“Honestly, we could have filled up a whole week on rigging and tying knots,” said Brian Wheeler, who, along with Local 77 linemen Russell Smith, Casey Slater and Brady Hansen, joined an EWWBNA-sponsored trip to St. Kitts in April where they conducted training sessions and attended a lineman rodeo.

The initiative was made possible by the foresight and goodwill of Ed Hill, former President of the IBEW and EWWBNA. President Hill, who passed away last December, “would have been enormously proud of the EWWBNA volunteers sharing their know how with the Caribbean linemen”, said EWWBNA President Don Siegel, who is also the retired Vice President of the IBEW Third District. He added, “Participating in the St. Kitts training and safety workshops and rodeo was all about improving skills and, in a very real sense, saving lives”.

The Americans were hosted by CARILEC, a Caribbean association of electric utilities and the CUEA, the Caribbean Utilities Employees Association.

Hansen, who made the first contact with CARILAC is a veteran and leader of cross-national worker cooperation.

Hansen’s flight to St. Kitts was delayed. Arriving a day after the other Local 77 members, said Hansen, “I saw three Northern Idaho guys who needed sunscreen and had smiles ear-to-ear.” The smiles, he added, were from the “relationships they had already started building, finding out how alike were they and their fellow electrical workers in the Caribbean.”

“We noticed a lot of areas where the lineman were proficient, but a number of areas where exposure to training or safe work methods was lacking,” said Wheeler.

“Our Caribbean friends are adrenalized talking about storms, like Hurricane Maria in 2017,” said Hansen. With a storm surge of one meter across the island, workers were left without materials for a month and a half.

“The Caribbean workers were able to teach me about culture and comaraderie as much as I was able to teach them about rigging and safety advances,” said Slater.

“I want to thank EWWBNA for the opportunity to travel to St. Kitts. This was my first training opportunity since becoming a journeyman, so I benefited greatly from the teaching experience. I better understand the term ‘brotherhood,’” said Smith.

“I’m looking forward to many more opportunities to bring safety and knowledge to others in the trade,” said Slater, underscoring the wider benefits of EWWBNA exchanges.

Editor’s note: Len Shindel (lshindel3@comcast.net) is a retired member and representative of the United Steelworkers at Sparrows Point Md. From 2004 to 2015, Shindel worked as a communications specialist at the IBEW International headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he also served as a shop steward representing members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, Local 2. Shindel won frequent awards for his writing from the International Labor Communications Association. He is retired and lives in Garrett County, Md.

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Just prior to the onset of COVID, EWWBNA had planned to send a team of volunteers to Peru to help with the electrical needs of an order of Catholic nuns focused on assisting disadvantaged women and children. Unfortunately, this mission was postponed along with other EWWBNA projects at the time.

But as the Pandemic was winding down, a local contractor was hired to install a solar array for the nun’s pre-school in Huacho, an expense EWWBNA shared with ESF-Italy. Shortly after, EWWBNA sent Jim Beck, a retired member of IBEW Local 98 Philadelphia, to inspect the solar installation and assess other projects along with an Italian volunteer. In addition to Huacho, the team travelled to Chaclacayo, Chosica, and Villa Maria del Triunfo, and recommendations were made for additional solar arrays and electrical upgrades for programs serving the poor.

In September 2023, EWWBNA and ESF-Italy, sponsored a solar installation at the Asociacion de las Bienaventuranzas, a program run by a dynamic priest, Padre Omar Sanchez, providing shelter, meals, and healthcare for homeless men, women, and children suffering from disabilities and mental health disorders. A month later, another team of volunteers, which included EWWBNA partners from Italy and Spain, inspected the solar array and developed action plans for electrical upgrades. They also developed a relationship with the Bishop of Huacho, who has agreed to host volunteers fielded near Huacho, while the Asociacion de las Bienaventuranzas hosts volunteers for projects in the Lima area.

In November 2024, Jim Beck returned to Peru along with Asa Shenandoah, a volunteer from IBEW Local 1249, Syracuse, NY. They spent over two weeks doing electrical upgrades of several buildings at Villa Maria del Triunfo and at the school in Huacho and were connected to an electrical school which has agreed to provide apprentices who would shadow volunteers on future projects as part of their training. A month following this mission, EWWBNA co-sponsored with ESF-Italy another solar array at the Asociacion de las Bienaventuranzas which has significantly reduced the program’s electrical costs.

So far, EWWBNA efforts in Peru have received donations from Hatzel and Buehler, one of the IBEW’s oldest signatory contractors, as well as from IBEW Local 1249, while our Peruvian hosts provide our volunteers with safe accommodation, meals, and ground transportation. EWWBNA encourages other locals and industry partners to support this worthy program by helping offset volunteer travel and the costs of materials and equipment. The need in these communities is enormous, and the impact being made is life changing.

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At an international partners meeting in Madrid, EWWBNA President Chris Erikson proposed including North American tribal nations to EWWBNA’s geographic outreach. Shortly after, a volunteer from Local 1249 Syracuse, and a member of Onondaga Nation, connected EWWBNA to Navajo Nation, leading to a partnership with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) to field volunteers to the reservation to assist with home wiring and service connections.

There are over 13,000 Navajo homes without electricity, which represents one third of homes on the reservation and more than 75% of all homes in the USA that are not connected. NTUA General Manager Walter Haase reported to the EWWBNA board that the challenge is nearly a billion-dollar problem and that alone it could take NTUA 50 years to connect everyone, but he hopes to reduce that down to 15 to 20 years with grants and support from EWWBNA and others.

Since 2019 several utilities, members of the American Public Power Association, have volunteered linemen crews to assist NTUA bring electricity to communities in need in a program called “Light Up Navajo”. This program has been very successful, bringing power lines in reach of nearly a thousand homes. Though many, if not most, Navajo homes without electricity have no inside wiring. This is where EWWBNA comes in.

Last June, Erikson led an EWWBNA delegation to Navajo Nation and met with NTUA leadership and staff and visited communities in need throughout the reservation. It was agreed EWWBNA would send several crews of volunteer wiremen in the fall of 2024 to focus on house wiring, complementing Light Up Navajo. Homeowners apply through NTUA to be part of the program.

Between September and November, 21 volunteers were deployed on schedule and wired dozens of homes. The volunteers were organized into crews of three wiremen and served two-week missions braving rough, offroad terrain to reach the homes. As homeowners turned on lights for the first time, many shed tears of joy, making for an emotional experience for the volunteers, seeing firsthand the life-changing results of volunteering their expertise. Also, with the help of Edwin Lopez, retired Executive Director of the New York Electrical Contractors Association, EWWBNA received donations of tools and equipment valued in tens of thousands of dollars from Milwaukee, Graybar, and over a dozen NYECA contractors. And Thorogood Boots, union-made in the USA, has agreed to gift a pair of work boots to every volunteer working on the project.

Given the success of the pilot, EWWBNA plans to deploy more volunteers in 2025, and several IBEW locals and individual members have reached out to join the effort. The program will run between April and June and between September and November. Currently, EWWBNA is only fielding wiremen, but it is in discussions with NTUA to field linemen crews, using NTUA vehicles and equipment. Also, utility locals are encouraged to contact their utilities to sound out their interest in joining the Light Up Navajo initiative which the NTUA calls a “mutual aid program without the storm”.

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