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APS Pledge for Responsible Energy Growth
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As Arizona grows and its energy needs evolve, APS's responsibility is clear: provide safe, reliable energy for every customer, keep bills as low as possible, and ensure the costs of serving large-load customers are not shifted to existing residential and business customers.
These commitments are not new. They are part of a broader, ongoing effort to manage costs and maintain reliability for our customers. And they have long guided how APS plans for growth and assesses how to serve customers like data centers and chip manufacturers.
As we work to serve new companies and industries, every customer deserves to understand our approach. APS's Pledge for Responsible Energy Growth is built upon three principles that define how we are protecting our current customers while serving the future needs of extra-large energy users.
Safeguarding Reliability
Our residential and business customers will have the energy they need, today and for years ahead.
Protecting Customer Rates
Extra-large customers pay the costs of serving their energy needs. In turn, this helps to keep rates lower for other customers.
Preserving Capacity
Arizona’s economy is expanding. We’re ensuring that the grid has enough power to support everyday growth for families, businesses and communities.
How These Principles Show Up
- Safeguarding Reliability:
Our customers depend on us — especially during Arizona’s extreme summer heat. We will not connect new large customers to the grid faster than it can reliably support. APS has consistently delivered top quartile reliability for years, and we are committed to maintaining that standard.Every extra-large customer agreement has built-in safeguards to protect other customers. They are structured with operational and contractual protections that ensure sufficient, reliable operation, and help APS to manage the energy grid during periods of peak demand.
- Protecting Customer Rates:
New extra-large energy users will pay the costs of serving their energy needs and growth. This includes investments and upgrades in generation, transmission, distribution and the energy grid. APS structures these agreements to ensure the costs and financial risks are not shifted to residential and business customers.Extra-large customers make long-term payment and service agreements. These will include upfront financial commitments and financial security to protect residential and business customers if an extra-large customer reduces or ends service early.
Their investments provide broader benefits. As extra-large customers fund upgrades needed to serve their growth, they help to cover shared infrastructure costs that otherwise would be borne by existing customers.
- Preserving Capacity:
We preserve grid capacity for the future growth of existing and new residential and business customers. Before adding new extra-large customers, we ensure we have reliable energy to continue serving the needs of homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, and other customers who rely on APS.
Questions and Answers
- Why is APS publishing this pledge?
The APS Pledge for Responsible Energy Growth clearly states our focus on protecting reliability and costs for residential and small and mid-sized business customers while working to meet the needs of data centers and large manufacturers.
This approach is not new – it’s part of a broader, ongoing effort to manage costs and maintain reliability for our customers. The principles of our pledge have long guided how APS plans for growth and assesses how to serve customers like data centers and large manufacturers.
We formalized this pledge and are sharing it so every customer and every community knows exactly how we protect them as Arizona grows.
- Will my electric bill increase because of data centers?
No. APS's pledge is that new extra-large energy users will pay the costs of serving their energy needs and growth. This includes investments and upgrades in generation, transmission, distribution and the energy grid. APS structures agreements with these users to ensure the costs and financial risks are not shifted to residential and business customers.
- How will APS ensure data centers continue paying their share over time?
APS has tools designed to ensure costs remain appropriately assigned as Arizona grows. These include Direct Pricing Contracts, which will include upfront financial commitments and financial security to protect residential and business customers if an extra-large customer reduces or ends service early.
In our June 2025 rate request to the Arizona Corporation Commission, we proposed a 45% rate increase for these extra-large energy users. This rate adjustment would help to ensure that data centers and large manufacturers continue to pay for their costs of service.
We also included something called formula rates in our rate request. This would allow APS to check each year how much it costs to serve customers and make adjustments, while still going through the same level of rigorous regulatory review. If extra-large customers like data centers cause costs to rise, those costs will be assigned to them.
- Are data centers getting priority over existing customers?
No. Before adding new extra-large customers, we ensure we have reliable energy to continue serving the needs of homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, and other customers who rely on APS.
- Is the energy grid prepared for these additional large users?
Yes. APS plans years in advance for customer growth and invests in the generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure needed to maintain reliability for all customers. APS will interconnect data centers in a manner that protects reliability for existing customers and preserves capacity for other growth in communities throughout our service territory.
- What happens if a data center leaves?
Direct Pricing Contracts with extra-large energy users like data centers include protections such as deposits, minimum billing commitments and termination provisions that help protect other customers from future costs.
- How long has APS been working on the challenges of these extra-large energy users?
APS was proactive in developing a high load factor rate back in 2017 to ensure rates paid by these customers reflected the cost to serve them. As circumstances and the magnitude of growth have changed, APS has continued its focus on ensuring extra-large energy users pay their costs.
We’re making sure growth pays for growth. How?
- When a data center or manufacturer comes to Arizona, they pay the cost of the infrastructure needed to serve them.
- Beyond infrastructure, in our June 2025 rate request to the Arizona Corporation Commission, we proposed a 45% rate increase for these extra-large energy users. This rate adjustment would help to ensure that data centers, not families or small businesses, continue to pay for their costs of service.
- We also included formula rates in our rate request, which would provide an annual process to ensure costs created by customers – including these new, large users – are allocated to them directly. This would be a fully transparent process with public input and oversight by the ACC, just like today.
- When a data center or manufacturer comes to Arizona, they pay the cost of the infrastructure needed to serve them.
