APS serves approximately 1.4 million homes and businesses in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties, and is a leader in delivering affordable, clean and reliable energy in the Southwest. The company is committed to serving customers with 100% clean power by 2050. As owner and operator of Palo Verde Generating Station, the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free electricity, and with one of the country’s most substantial renewable energy portfolios, APS’s current energy mix is 51% clean. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the principal subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW).
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Summer 2023: Resilient Energy Grid Stands Up to Historic Heat Wave and Demand
Proactive planning and response kept power flowing to APS customers
During the hottest July in Arizona history, APS customers were served with reliable energy that allowed them to keep their air conditioners running when they needed it most. In fact, the brutal July heat led to APS customers setting a new all-time record for energy demand.
“APS customers count on a reliable electric grid year-round, especially during the summer,” said Jacob Tetlow, APS Executive Vice President of Operations. “This summer's heat wave served as a reminder that our energy system can stand up to not just one hot summer day, but long stretches of extreme heat. This is all thanks to the proactive and careful planning by our skilled crews, resource planners and operators who work every day to keep the power on for our customers."
Highlights from 2023’s record-breaking summer:
18 days of record peak energy use during 110+ temperatures
APS customers made history by reaching a new all-time record for most electricity used in a single hour and sustaining high demand for energy through the latter half of summer. Customers previously set a record on July 30, 2020 with 7,660 megawatts (MW) of energy used at the same time. This year, APS customers:
- Shattered the 2020 record by reaching a new all-time peak on Saturday, July 15 with 8,162 MW. (A preliminary number was shared in an earlier news release.)
- Exceeded the 2020 peak of 7,660 MW on 18 different days in July and August 2023.
- Used more energy than the 2020 peak record over a streak of nine days straight.
To put this amount of energy into perspective, those megawatts are equivalent to more than 1.4 million customers running their air conditioners around-the-clock to keep homes and businesses comfortable, and hundreds of thousands of swimming pool pumps and chillers keeping pools cool. As Arizona continues to grow, the things that make everyday life in the desert convenient and comfortable will require more electricity.
“We have prepared years in advance for this increased volume of energy demand, so it did not come as a surprise. Our resource planning team monitors customer growth and weather patterns and utilizes a diverse mix of energy sources from renewables and nuclear to flexible natural gas and as expected, our employees and our power grid delivered for our customers,” said Tetlow.
Customers participating in APS Cool Rewards helped maintain grid reliability, while earning bill credits for voluntarily reducing their energy use. A community of more than 58,000 customers and about 80,000 smart thermostats act like a virtual power plant to save energy. This summer, participating customers conserved a record 135 MW of power – the equivalent of what a small power plant produces. For comparison, customers in the program decreased energy use by about 110 MW last summer.
Looking ahead, APS resource planners are already crunching the numbers on what energy use will look like next summer and those that follow. As more people and businesses call Arizona home, energy use will grow too, and over the next eight years that growth is predicted to be approximately 40%. With that in mind, the APS team is working to ensure service continues to be reliable and affordable for customers, with a focus on thoughtful power generation. APS’s current energy portfolio is 51% clean and includes Palo Verde Generating Station, the largest producer of carbon-free energy in the country, solar and wind power, along with traditional resources that ramp up quickly during hot summers.
Emergency response efforts
After a wet winter, monsoon storms were sparse but packed a punch with damaging wind speeds up to 80 mph. Across Arizona, APS crews were staged and ready to respond to downed power poles and lines in neighborhoods and rural, rugged areas. During the months of May through September, crews typically replace about 290 poles damaged by storms. With storms arriving late this year, crews replaced about 125 poles, a number much lower than average and stark in comparison to last year’s historic season in which APS replaced a record 811 damaged poles.
Wildfire activity had less impact to APS infrastructure this year compared to years past. As a result of APS’s fire mitigation efforts and where fires occurred, there was less risk to power lines. Each year, crews maintain more than 38,000 miles of APS power lines, clear vegetation and use advanced smart technology like drones and robots to detect issues with equipment before they cause problems. APS’s team of experts in fire behavior, forestry, and meteorology monitors fire outlooks and weather patterns, partners with first responders and strengthens plans to continue to provide the safest and most reliable service to customers.
On top of annual maintenance to keep the electric system resilient against extreme weather, being prepared and ready also meant APS crews quickly responded when other issues arose. Especially with the increased temperatures, they worked to keep power outages to a minimum when objects like tarps and trampolines blew into lines, vehicles crashed into poles or construction workers unintentionally dug up power lines.
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