APS Reaches Major Solar Milestone; Tops Gigawatt of Solar Energy

Diverse Solar Portfolio Benefits All Customers

– This summer, APS surpassed one gigawatt of solar energy capacity, becoming the only utility outside of California to achieve this milestone. When generating at full power, this capacity meets the partial daytime needs of 250,000 Arizona homes. The company’s total investment in solar energy is approximately $2 billion.
 
APS’s solar portfolio is almost an even split between rooftop systems and grid-scale projects, with 551 megawatts coming from rooftop systems and 499 megawatts coming from grid-scale projects.
 
“APS customers benefit from the fact that when you include energy from APS’s other renewable energy sources — wind, geothermal, biomass and biogas – and the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, nearly half of all the power on APS’s system is carbon-free,” said , APS Vice President of Resource Management. “A cleaner energy mix is a top priority for us, with solar playing an important role.”

SRP's Northern Arizona Coal Plant One of the Biggest Carbon Emitters in the Country

 Ryan Randazzo, The Republic | azcentral.com September 29, 2016

An electric train delivers 240 cars of coal to the Navajo Generating Station each day, dumping the black fuel into a pile roughly twice the size of the Walmart shopping center in nearby Page.

Each day the plant burns 24,000 tons of that coal, and in doing so, creates nearly double that amount of carbon dioxide pollution, making it the third-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

Over the years, upgrades have reduced the amount of other pollutants released by the plant's three generators. But the only way to reduce carbon emissions, which gain atomic mass on release, is to reduce how often the plant runs.

SRP Approves $100 Million Gas-Plant Purchase

 Ryan Randazzo, The Republic | azcentral.com 11:46 a.m. MST September 20, 2016

Salt River Project's elected board of directors approved spending $100 million to purchase a power block at the Gila River Power Station natural-gas-fired plant near Gila Bend.

The purchase was approved at a Sept. 12 board meeting.

The plant is owned by Entegra Power of Tampa, which sold another unit at Gila River to Tucson Electric Power last year. The plant was built by different companies in the early 2000s to be used as a merchant plant selling power on the wholesale market.

Apple's Secret Solar Plant in Arizona Could Power 12,500 Homes

 Ryan Randazzo, The Republic | azcentral.com 7:51 a.m. MST September 21, 2016

Apple Inc. has built a 300-acre solar power plant in Florence to make up for the electricity used in its Mesa data center, and Salt River Project finally released details of the secretive project Tuesday.

Apple wants its customers to know that when they ask the Siri app on their phones for directions, they aren't contributing to global climate change. The company has a goal of generating enough clean energy from multiple facilities to compensate for the power its global factories and other operations draw from the power grid.

Apple said in 2015 when it announced its command center project in Mesa that it would run the facility with solar power, but until now, the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPhone maker hasn't provided any details of how it would accomplish that.

TEP Awards $250,000 in Grants for Environment, Education, Assistance Programs

TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tucson Electric Power (TEP) awarded $250,000 in grants today to help 12 local nonprofit groups improve education, protect our environment and provide community assistance.

TEP’s Community Impact Grants will fund home repairs for 175 limited-income families, develop new solar energy resources, expand opportunities for thousands of underserved students and provide other critical services to local residents.

Energy Initiative Awaits Nevada Voters

Posted: Sunday, September 11, 2016 11:51 pm |

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Discussion is picking up on the Energy Choice Initiative, with more people taking public positions on the ballot measure that aims to deregulate electrical service in Nevada. Here are things to know about Question 3:

Thousands of APS Customers get Alert During Proposed Peak Power Hour Change

By Martha Maurer | September 2, 2016 | ktar.com

PHOENIX — A call alerting Arizona Public Service customers of an upcoming peak day went out to roughly 47,000 randomly-selected customers throughout the Valley this week.

“Tuesday, Aug. 30, is a peak day, from 3-8 p.m.,” the message said. “After the peak day is over, we’ll follow up and let you know how efficient you were.”

Some received the alerts via e-mail.

UES Warns Customers to Beware of Ongoing Scam Phone Calls

KINGMAN, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- UniSource Energy Services (UES) is reminding customers to protect themselves from phone scammers who try to solicit payments by claiming to work for UES and threatening to disconnect service for unpaid bills.

Some UES customers recently have reported receiving such calls. The callers instruct customers to make payment over the phone with a pre-paid money card within a limited amount of time to avoid having their power or natural gas shut off. In some cases, the caller instructs customers to bring a money order or cashier’s check to a local pharmacy.