GRICUA holds Appreciation Day

Christopher Lomahquahu

Gila River Indian News

The Gila River Indian Community Utility Authority hosted an appreciation day event for customers on Nov. 15, at the GRICUA headquarters, located within the Lone Butte area. Guests were treated with hot dogs, treats and live entertainment.

The appreciation day included tours of the administrative building, and presentations on power line safety and the youth summer program. Visitors were also given a tour of a large new auxiliary building for employees to park utility vehicles, store tools and supplies.

“The heat and direct sunlight really wear down equipment especially some of our wire trucks back there and hydraulic trucks. So, we needed to have a place to keep our trucks out of the weather to preserve our assets,” Arnold Mejia, GRICUA Finance Director.

He said it’s important to preserve the Community’s investment, to prevent the premature wear of equipment parked in the Arizona sun. “It allows us to park all of our big trucks within the base. We also added a crew ready room, a place we can stage certain jobs, equipment and material out of here,” said Mejia.

“GRICUA has installed better service and offers redundancy, I’ve watched the growth as technology develops, we’ve been able to keep-up,” said Pamela Thomas, GRICUA Board Director. She said the Washington D.C. youth tour is a great opportunity for them to get involved with the Community’s leading power supplier.

“We invite the youth in our Community to come together, to have them think about careers in the utility field or something having to do with technology,” said Erica Dawahoya, Youth Board Intern.

“We go to the AZ science center, Boeing, Arizona State University, as well as Ramona Ranch and Wellington Ranch, to give them a variety of different things to do,” said Dawahoya.

Elsewhere, GRICUA linemen gave demonstrations on power-line safety and what to do in-case individuals encountered a downed power-line.

From implementing easier ways for customers to make payments, new meters for their homes and most importantly, bringing a redundant system of bringing power to the people, GRICUA has come a long way.