We aspire to power new businesses in the Valley that enrich our communities. Companies who expand in our territory often add high-paying jobs, new economic revenue, and support local workforce and education systems. The commercial and residential service territory growth Arizona has seen is a testament to the great value our state has to offer to employers of all industries. Here’s where SRP comes in.
Our role in economic development
SRP is one of only three utilities to have earned The Accredited Economic Development Organization status, which recognizes the professional excellence of economic development organizations through the International Economic Development Council.
In the last three years, from spring of 2021 to spring of 2024, SRP Economic Development supported an estimated 79 commercial projects locating in SRP’s service territory of Greater Phoenix, accounting for nearly 15,000 jobs and $10.7 billion capital investment infused. The majority of these are in the manufacturing and advanced manufacturing industries, with employees from areas including aerospace and aviation, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and clean energy technology. Another large portion of projects in this timeframe are in the Professional Services industry, including IT, data centers and E-Commerce. A variety of industries rounded out the remaining 18 project locations.
To help attract these companies, SRP Economic Development coordinates with state and regional partners including the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) and Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) who often work with large companies and prospects considering expansion in Arizona. SRP partners with municipalities in our service territory to determine what kind of growth they’d like to see in workforce opportunities.
Planning for more power
SRP has been planning for Valley growth for more than 120 years, and our sights remain set on how to support the future. The Economic Development team has boots on the ground in each community SRP serves, and the team plays a critical role in gathering information on where change and development is planned. The team’s relationships with municipal leaders and regional groups, such as East Valley Partnership and WESTMARC, provide the larger organization with insights on where growth corridors are forming.
The team supports municipal customers in responding to requests from companies considering the Greater Phoenix Area by providing background on available power capacity and power infrastructure necessary to support commercial projects. These efforts assist our city partners in having their sites shortlisted and ultimately selected by companies that bring high value and jobs to their areas.
Equipped with these early insights, SRP’s Load Forecasting, Strategy and Planning teams can plan for future growth in areas around the Valley. This is a key facet and objective for the SRP Economic Development team: to help the entire organization be proactive in developing effective strategy and resource plans, versus being responsive to incoming growth.
Economic Development also fosters relationships with prospective business customers who have robust Corporate Social Responsibility programs and sustainability goals, as their initiatives typically align with SRP’s sustainability-focused planning. Many large companies who have recently entered or expanded in the market have requirements for meeting sustainability goals through renewable energy resources, such as large-scale solar, wind farms and energy storage. These companies, such as Intel, Google, Meta, Apple and many others, have helped jointly fund these developments on SRP’s system. These renewable resources help large companies meet carbon-free targets and advance the transition to a carbon-free power grid. New and expanding commercial customers – such as Pepsi, EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, Terracon, Google and others—have also supported SRP initiatives in forest restoration to help repair the watershed in Arizona.
New developments coming to Phoenix
LG Energy Solution decided to build a battery manufacturing complex in Queen Creek, AZ because they see the Valley as a leader in sustainable and clean energy production. This complex will create lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, helping to support the state’s investment in clean energy. Their development will bring high-paying jobs in addition to resources to improve roadways and infrastructure for the Queen Creek community.
Many businesses have settled in our service territory because of the recent expansion of semiconductor companies in the Greater Phoenix area and across the state. This includes Intel with a campus in Chandler inside SRP’s service territory and with fabricator plants in development outside of SRP’s service territory. These key players in the industry bring other semiconductor companies to the state, including advanced manufacturing suppliers and more.