Indiana Lineworkers Electrify Guatemala’s Pena Roja Village

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Lineworkers extended electric infrastructure to bring electricity to a village that had none

Fourteen Indiana electric cooperative lineworkers returned from Guatemala Saturday, May 13, following an international initiative to bring electricity to a developing area in Guatemala.

“Project Indiana: Empowering Global Communities for a Better Tomorrow” brought electricity to part of the Central American Country where none was available. The crew has been in Guatemala since April 27, extending electric infrastructure in the village of Pena Roja along the western edge of Guatemala. Because of the lineworkers’ efforts, 26 homes in the village now have electricity for the first time.

Project Crew

  • Matt Bassett, Tipmont, Linden
  • Kevin Bay, JCREMC, Franklin
  • Michael Bowman, Boone REMC, Lebanon
  • Cody Campbell, South Central Indiana REMC, Martinsville
  • Nathan Clayton, Clark County REMC, Sellersburg
  • Collin Crabtree, Decatur County REMC, Greensburg
  • Ethan DeWitt, Northeastern REMC, Columbia City
  • Austin Gearlds, NineStar Connect, Greenfield
  • Tom Gettinger, Henry County REMC, New Castle
  • Clint Heeke, Southern Indiana Power, Tell City
  • Frank Leach, Carroll White REMC, Monticello
  • Terry Minic, Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative, Inc., Paulding, Ohio
  • Jason Morrison, Jackson County REMC, Brownstown
  • Michael Newlin, Orange County REMC, Orleans

Support Team

  • Joe Banfield, Indiana Electric Cooperatives, Indianapolis
  • Jamie Bell, NineStar Connect, Greenfield
  • Ron Holcomb, Tipmont, Linden
  • Chris Todd, Northeastern REMC, Columbia City

This is the Indiana electric cooperatives’ fifth trip to Guatemala. In August 2012, 28 Hoosier lineworkers from 17 of Indiana’s electric cooperatives spent four weeks working across the mountainous terrain to bring electricity to 184 homes, a church and a school in three villages. In April 2015, 14 lineworkers battled extreme heat and the rugged land to bring electricity to 164 homes, a school and a church.

In 2017, 14 lineworkers endured temperature extremes to power 68 homes, a school, a church and a health clinic. And, on the 2019 trip, 14 lineworkers brought electricity to nearly 90 homes, two churches and a school, and ensured that every home they wired for electricity had a properly vented wood-burning cooking stove installed to replace the open-fire cooking.

Additional photos can be found on the Indiana Electric Cooperatives Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as in SmugMug Photo Albums.

Project Indiana is a 501c3 founded by Indiana’s electric cooperatives to empower global communities one village at a time. For more information, visit ProjectIndiana.org.

Indiana Electric Cooperatives, located in Indianapolis, represents 38 electric distribution cooperatives that serve 1.3 million Hoosiers in 89 of the state’s 92 counties. The cooperatives are collectively the second largest electricity provider in Indiana. For more information about the association, visit IndianaEC.org.