The colonias has the largest concentration of people living without basic services in the United States. Colonias exist up and down the Texas side of the border. The Colonias, which means neighborhood in Spanish, resulted when developers bought tracts of farm land and sold them unimproved to mostly poor, Mexican-Americans along the U.S.-Mexico border region. Most colonias people people live without basic services taken for granted in the rest of the United States. These unincorporated, isolated settlements often lack water and sewer systems, electricity, health facilities, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing.

SECO is involved in a number of colonias and border community projects and initiatives that include low-income non-border counties. The following is a summary of these activities.

Schools
Housing & Community
Health & Transportation
Clean Energy Technology & Safety Lighting
Monitoring Renewable Energy Systems
Additional Resources

Colonias Schools

Schools Lighting and Air Conditioning Grants
Most Texas/Mexico border school districts are in areas with low tax revenues and depleted maintenance budgets, which means that most of these schools have inefficient lighting and air conditioning systems.  The grants provide funding for 12 school districts to upgrade school facilities lighting and air conditioning systems. The upgrades improve air quality in the classrooms, create a better learning environment and enhance student comfort while maximizing district resources. Energy savings realized from these retrofits enable the school districts to reduce their utility expenditures and use the savings for additional improvement to their facilities.

School districts in the grant program: Anthony ISD, Brackett ISD, Comstock ISD, Dell City ISD, Marathon ISD, Monte Alto ISD, San Isidro ISD, Santa Maria ISD, San Vicente ISD, Sierra Blanca ISD, Terlingua ISD and Terrell County ISD.

Wind Power for Schools: A&M engineers Set up Turbines at Cigarroa

The hope here is that students and teachers will build wind turbines that will generate power for border communities without electricity, and teach colonias residents to build their own turbine generators with parts that are very accessible. Lesley V. Kriewald, Texas Engineering Experiment Station, 2007

The Texas State Energy Conservation Office grant will fund a total of four turbines in a two-year period. With the help of volunteer engineers from Texas A&M University, more than 40 engineering students from UISD and LISD magnet schools helped to install the first student-made wind turbine in the state of Texas. The turbine was designed to power up the Cigarroa High School marquee at the entrance to the school.

The students experience all aspects of the engineering design and manufacturing process of producing and installing four 1-2 kW prototype wind turbines for each school. The students are working together to make an instructional video that breaks down each step in easy-to-understand terminology and simple tasks to teach colonia residents how to build their own energy maker. They said they researched where people could find inexpensive parts for the windmill locally.

The schools districts have the option of installing the system on campus or at the Webb County Self-Help Center. The turbine design is available to colonia residents as an alternative until they are able to access the electric grid. This is a multi-year contract to ensure that the faculty and students feel comfortable continuing the program. For additional information, see: Laredo Students Build Wind Turbines for Colonias.

Colonias Housing & Community

Energy Savings Training
SECO, in partnership with the Texas A&M International University in Laredo, is promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in the Laredo area and surrounding colonias communities in English and Spanish.  The training sessions provide tips on how to save energy on residential and commercial buildings.  A total of 15 training sessions with 167 attendees were provided in 2006.

Affordable Energy Star Homes for Texas Families
SECO has partnered with the University of Texas-El Paso to provide low-income and colonia families access to affordable Energy Star homes and appliances. 125 homes will be built to meet or beat Energy Star requirements. 100 Energy Star appliances will be made available to low-income residents. 24 workshops on energy efficiency will be developed and provided to residents in the El Paso area including the colonias. 10 fact sheets on energy efficiency and a Builders Guide Book to Energy Efficiency will be produced and published.

Affordable Housing Construction and Rehabilitation
This project promotes energy efficiency in the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing, with objectives that: 1) influence builders that construct and rehabilitate affordable housing to use energy-efficiency design concepts and technologies; 2) enhance energy-awareness of lower-income families entering into the housing market; and, 3) encourage lenders to take “life-cycle costing” considerations into account in calculating loan amounts and the loan applicants’ ability to pay. The project includes energy education workshops and seminars and requires installation of the most cost effective, energy-efficient and low-maintenance technologies.

Utility Resource Education Network- A Guide to Lower Utility Cost
SECO has partnered with Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) to provide a renewable energy conservation education program to the South Texas region, primarily to Laredo and surrounding colonias communities. The main work plan is the development of awareness courses to provide energy conservation information and recommendations to residents, and the promotion of energy conservation opportunities to the building community with construction standard practices and new technology. This initiative is delivered through 72 training sessions using the Internet, academic courses and general workshops in the community.

Colonias Health and Transportation

The lack of a waste water infrastructure and potable water as well as the absence of centrally-located health facilities and are the greatest concerns in the colonias because of the potentially serious consequences for public health and its effect on quality of life. SECO addresses both of these concerns through the following initiatives:

Colonias Solar-Powered Water Purification Systems
This pilot program is designed to enhance the health of colonias residents. The program includes a strong educational component through hands-on training, workshops, and a comprehensive manual for community-based organizations and others designing self-contained water systems. Program objectives:

1) install 20 solar thermal water pasteurization units; 

2) provide 50 systems to purify water using ultraviolet light for use in disaster and emergency situations;

3) conduct workshops to train colonias residents how to solar purify, hygienically manage, efficiently use and properly store their water;

4) distribute written materials that document and explain the solar purification systems and promote safe water management for colonias families; and, 

5) retrofit one community center with an integrated water solar system that addresses supply disinfection, and an additional water supply for hygiene and sanitation. The site serves as a demonstration of a possible solution to the overall water problem for colonias residents without piped water.

Colonias Telehealth
This initiative improves access to health and dental services and provides health and dental education for colonias residents through the use of mobile medical units.  Funds are used to purchase telecommunications links between the mobile vans and fixed facilities such as universities and hospitals. Telemedicine is the use of electronic audio, visual and data communications to help with health care diagnosis, consultation and treatment. It also can be used to educate patients and to transfer medical data. See this University of Texas article.

Colonias Transportation
This initiative provides public transportation for colonias residents in five border counties. Providing this basic transportation is designed to: 1) increases access of isolated colonias residents to education, job-training, health, human services, housing and youth and elderly programs; 2) improve access of colonias residents to the Community Resource Centers that have been established by Texas A&M Center for Housing and Urban Development; and 3) provide a connection to existing transportation service serving cities, suburbs and adjacent rural areas. Also see this 2005 report in which SECO is acknowledged for helping to create a demonstrable solution for transportation issues in Texas’s border colonias: Texas Colonias Van Project: An Aspect of Transportation in Underserved Communities.

Clean Energy Technology & Safety Lighting

Colonia residents without access to the utility grid will participate in a clean energy technology and safety lighting demonstration.  A micro-grid consisting of a hybrid generator, main distribution panel, and a temporary power outlet will be established for 10 homes.  Additionally, safety lighting will be installed around the mobile power plant.  The hybrid system will run on biodiesel as well as wind and solar power.  The residents will be provided with detailed energy education specific to this project, How to Use Energy Efficiently, to supplement SECO’s existing energy education resources.   

The information collected will include:

• emissions data,
• energy production and use,
• system reliability, and
• cost benefits of each alternative energy technology. 

An analysis of operating data and the experience of installing and maintaining these micro grid systems will be the basis of the determination of the self-sufficiency business models.  The needs assessment and study of the economic model will determine the feasibility and economics of the alternative energy mobile power plant for use in remotes areas, as a disaster relief measure or as a more secure on-site power source. 

Ultimately, this project will:

• validate the use of the hybrid (bio-diesel) generator and solid state storage devices in a remote micro grid environment;  

• provide minimal electrical service to residences located in selected Webb County Colonias not served by the grid; and
  
  
• transfer the project concepts to other colonias as well as other remote Distributed Generation (DG) users, including security or disaster relief operations. 

Monitoring the Performance of Renewable Energy Systems

Renewable energy projects have the potential to generate needed electricity in the U.S./Mexico border region without contributing to air pollution. When such projects generate electricity for homes, schools, or businesses, the energy they produce reduces that needed from traditional fossil fuel power plants, decreasing the amount of air pollutants emitted from these plants. However, accurate, reliable data on the ongoing performance of most renewable energy projects in the border region are not widely available, making accurate quantification of energy production and associated reduction of air pollutant emissions difficult, if not impossible.

To address this concern, the Texas State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) and its partner CSGServices, Inc. (CSGS) developed a Texas only web-based monitoring system to track the performance of renewable energy projects installed in the border region and all across the state.  The site includes documentation and quantification of kilowatt hours produced and air pollutant emissions reduced by each project. This project incorporates the PV system in Eagle Pass, the Webb County solar water purification system, and other renewable energy installations along the border.

Additional Resources

Border 2012
Border 2012, a partnership between the United States and Mexico, is working on a broad range of environmental challenges by using expertise and financial resources from both sides of the border to address air quality, water quality, land contamination, and related health problems. This article by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spotlights Border 2012 projects in Texas.

Texas Secretary of State Colonias Page

SB 827 Report: Tracking the Progress of State-funded Projects that Benefit Colonias
This is the Texas Secretary of State's December 2006 Final Report in response to Senate Bill 827 by Senator Judith Zaffirini and Representative Ryan Guillen 79th Regular Session, Texas Legislature. The bill relates to systems for identifying colonias and for tracking the progress of state-funded projects that benefit colonias and the submission of a related report to the legislature.

SB 1202: Report Relating to the Coordination of Colonia Initiatives and Services to Colonia Residents
This is the Texas Secretary of State's December 2006 report prepared in compliance with SB 1202 of the 79th Regular Session, Texas Legislature. SB 1202 requires the colonia initiatives coordinator in the Texas Office of the Secretary of State to work with designated agencies and consult with the Colonia Resident Advisory Committee. The intention of this collaboration is to improve services delivered to colonia residents by developing a state-level strategy to address their needs and submit recommendations to the legislature based on that strategy.

Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development
The Texas Legislature established the Texas Center for Border Economic and Enterprise Development in 1987. The program is a consortium effort between Texas A&M International University, the University of Texas Pan-American and the University of Texas-El Paso. The purpose of the program is to provide leadership and support to Texas border communities in their economic development efforts, including activities in the areas of business development, education, health care, public administration and the environment.

Office of Colonia Initiatives
A Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs web site. The success stories highlight ACCION Texas, which was launched in 2002 with a U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant.

A Partnership for Advancing Technology in Colonia Housing
A University of Texas at El Paso article.

Texas Colonias Success Stories 2006
A U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) web site.

ACCION Texas
ACCION Texas helps small business owners with financial assistance needed to establish or develop their businesses. ACCOIN also has a Border Lending and Savings Initiative in the colonias aimed at the Texas/Mexico border as well as an IDA Match Savings Program. As a means to expand its services to Texas small business owners, ACCION introduced online applications in 2006. Since then they have received over 330 applications. ACCION believes that personal contact is an important part of the loan process. After the application is processed, the applicant is contacted personally.

US-Mexico Border Environment 2002
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publication.

Texas Border Colonia Geography Online
This Office of the Attorney General web site has an extensive colonia geographic database for the border region. The database stores accurate geographic and descriptive data on over 1,800 colonia areas in 29 border area counties.

Colonias Prevention
This Texas Attorney General’s Office web site gives a description of the current safeguards that seek to prevent unscrupulous practices that originally contributed to the colonias conditions along the Texas/Mexico border. The Texas Legislature has further developed these laws during the past 15 years. Some of the major laws apply only to border areas or in "economically distressed" counties with high unemployment and low per capita income.

Farm Workers/Colonias
HUD’s homepage of resources for colonias and their residents. Also migrant farmer resources.

$7.5 million Granted to Hispanic-Serving Universities
A 2005 U.S. Housing and Urban Development article. The University of Texas at El Paso received $599,539.

United States/Mexico Transboundary Mapping
A U.S. Geological Survey web site.

The Forgotten Americans
This is a photographic story by Hector Galán about the colonias, based on a PBS Colonias documentary.

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