GILA BEND, AZ — Arizona Public Service (APS) intends to build a new natural gas power plant west of Gila Bend.
The utility provider made the announcement Thursday.
The new plant would be capable of adding up to 2,000 megawatts of electricity to the state's power grid.
The plant will be state-of-the-art and support Arizona's rapidly growing energy needs, according to APS.
The two-phase project will support current customer growth in the first phase, and it will enable new extra-large customer investments in phase two.
“Arizona’s energy needs are growing faster than at any time in our history,” said Jacob Tetlow, APS Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Additional natural gas generation is essential to support our existing customers and to begin addressing unprecedented requests from extra-large energy users, such as data centers. By pursuing a ‘growth pays for growth’ strategy, this project protects customers while supporting data centers needed for the U.S. to compete globally.”
The proposed plan would ensure that the second phase is paid for by the extra-large utility customers, like data centers, and not by residential or business customers.
APS officials say this plan will help maintain fair prices for all customers and protect round-the-clock energy reliability.
“Phase 1 will support all customers, helping to meet spikes in demand – such as those on hot summer afternoons – and keeping electricity flowing when renewable power from solar and wind isn’t available,” Tetlow said. “Phase 2 ensures that as Arizona continues to grow, we are relying on innovative solutions to help protect existing customers from the costs associated with expansion. Partnering with our extra-high load customers to maintain cost fairness is a part of our plan.”
The plant will help APS in their plans to add nearly 7,300 megawatts of new resources by 2028 to support Arizona's continued rapid growth.
It will also bring hundreds of construction jobs along with a smaller number of long-term operational jobs at the plant, according to APS.
