Salt River Project has announced a new agreement that it says will add enough solar energy to power about 600,000 homes by 2034.
The Thursday announcement is part of SRP’s plan to more than double its generating capacity over the next ten years.
"Today we're right around 12,000 megawatts or so that's on our system that we utilize to serve our customers. So we'll be looking at more than doubling that," said Bill McClellan, director of resource acquisition with the utility.
The construction and operation of the plants will be done by the Florida based NextEra Energy starting in 2029. SRP will then buy the power from those plants.
SRP says the company plans to build out 500-megawatts of solar plants each year, maxing out at 3,000 megawatts.
“When we think about our overall growth, right around 80% is what we consider our large business customers. And about two-thirds of that is attributed to data centers. So they are a significant part of our growth," McClellan said,
McClellan says SRP has yet to settle on the cost of buying the power from NextEra.
SRP already gets some solar power from NextEra Energy.
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Data analyst Abhay Padgoankar says a group of around 100 data centers and other large industrial users have nearly all of the increased demand on APS's system in recent years. To keep up with demand, he says, the utility is buying more power from outside suppliers and charging that across the entire rate base. -
The Mesa City Council approved landing fees at Falcon Field airport in March to help keep the airport self-sustaining. In April, the Federal Aviation Administration initiated a review over concerns the fees target specific airport users. -
New federal data shows a wide gap in the amount of carbon pollution produced by electricity generation across the West, reflecting stark differences in how states produce their power. -
Learn more about the candidates for the 2026 race for Arizona Corporation Commission. -
Earlier this year, the commission voted 3-2 to approve new rates for the Picacho Water and Sewer companies, utilities started by The Robson Companies to serve the 55+ Robson Ranch community that opened in Eloy in 2005.
