In this age where misinformation spreads quickly and there’s constant outrage online, in the news and during elections, it’s critical to be able to separate fact from fiction. Like many organizations, SRP has seen an increase in misleading claims and half-truths about how we generate power, how we’re preparing the electric grid for the future, and how we’re protecting Arizona’s water for today and the future.
In this blog, we set the record straight on these topics and provide the facts about where we’re headed for the future.
Fact: SRP’s residential electric rates are among the lowest in the Southwest – and in fact, our rates are significantly lower than other Arizona utilities. We also consistently rank among the top 5 utilities in the nation for reliability, which is critical during Arizona’s hot summers when our customers need electric power for air conditioning.
Fact: From our mission to our roadmap for the future, SRP is clear that we believe in reliability, affordability and sustainability – done responsibly. That’s why, despite larger growth than nearly every other utility in the United States, we have managed to reduce carbon emissions by generation since 2005. In fact, we recently increased our goal to reduce carbon emissions intensity from 2005 levels by 82% by 2035 and with a goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Additionally, we not only recognize that our resource mix needs to change to meet the needs of our customers and community today and in the future, but we are rapidly pursuing a wide range of renewable energy resources to bring online for the foreseeable future. Today, 35% of our energy mix comes from carbon-free resources and that will substantially increase in the next few years as we have more than 1,500 MW of solar (enough to power 337,500 average size homes) and 1,100 MW of grid-scale batteries (enough to power 247,500 average size homes) under development.
SRP’s energy efficiency program portfolio also helps our customers use less electricity – which in turn helps them to save money, reduce carbon emissions overall, and maintain reliability particularly during Arizona’s hot summer months.
Fact: From 2023 to 2024, SRP will have more than doubled the amount of solar in our resource mix. Today, 8% of our power generation mix comes from solar, and by the end of the decade (2030), we plan to grow that to nearly 30%.
As part of our recently approved Integrated System Plan, we also plan to add 7,000 MW of renewables while retiring 2,600 MW of coal capacity by 2035.
Fact: We provide multiple ways for customers to have rooftop solar. As of January 2023, there are more than 55,000 SRP residential customers who have solar – and that number continues to grow at a similar pace to other local utilities. We provide four separate and distinct price plans specifically for those customers who wish to add rooftop solar to their home as well as innovative green plan options, such as access to utility-scale solar. In addition, we offer any customer a list of vetted solar installers, information on what questions to ask any potential solar installer, and additional educational materials to empower homeowners to make the best decision for themselves and their families.
However, it’s important to understand rooftop alone cannot scale to serve the massive needs of our service territory in the Phoenix metro area. Utility-scale solar is often a more cost-effective way for SRP to generate power for our customers while also enabling us to maintain some of the lowest rates in the Southwest.
Fact: SRP is recognized both here in Arizona and across the nation for our significant efforts to protect and restore our state’s most precious resource – water. More than 2.5 million homes and businesses in the Phoenix metro area rely upon water supplied by SRP to their respective municipal providers. To accomplish this, we manage a 13,000-square-mile watershed and most of the water delivered to our customers comes from snow and rain that falls on 8.3 million acres of forested watershed in northern Arizona. That’s why through efforts like the SRP Healthy Forest Initiative™, we have committed via public-private partnerships, education and financial support to helping industry thin 800,000 acres of overgrown forests by 2035.
We also actively plan for the future to ensure the Valley has the water it needs to thrive in the years ahead. A significant example is our partnership with 22 municipal, tribal and agricultural entities as well as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on an effort to expand Bartlett Dam that would increase water storage capacity.
SRP and our more than 5,000 employees across the state work hard every day to deliver on our mission to deliver reliable, affordable and sustainable power and water to our customers. We encourage everyone to visit srpnet.com for the latest information about our customer programs, how to save on their monthly bill and how we’re working to ensure Arizona continues to thrive in the years ahead.