A bill to allow Salt River Project to begin exploring locations on federal land for a potential pumped storage hydropower system is headed to the president’s desk.
SRP has been vastly expanding its solar energy portfolio. But that means the utility also needs to grow its energy storage capacity to keep power flowing, even when the sun goes down.
One proposed solution is to construct a new pumped storage hydropower system. SRP would build a new dam near Apache Lake to pump water uphill during the day and then release it downhill at night to generate hydropower.
Reps. David Schweikert and Greg Stanton sponsored a bill in the U.S. House to allow SRP to explore sites on Bureau of Reclamation land. Their bill passed last year. A companion bill sponsored by Sens. Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema was approved this week in the U.S. Senate.
If the project moves forward, SRP says it’s still likely about a decade away.
