Developing Energy Storage

APS will add battery storage to its existing fleet of solar power plants, build new solar plants with storage, and use storage to deliver cleaner energy to customers at times of peak energy usage. As a result, APS customers will be able to use solar energy even after the sun goes down. Family dinners, prime-time television, and bedtime reading lights will all be powered by a cleaner energy mix.

“Arizona is already a national leader in solar energy. The challenge is, no one has figured out how to stop the sun from setting at night,” said APS Chairman and CEO Don Brandt. “As storage technology improves and declines in cost, we will increasingly be able to store the power of the sun cost-effectively to deliver when our customers need it.”

“Large-scale battery storage is a critical step on the path to reliable and affordable clean energy solutions,” said Pat Graham, State Director, The Nature Conservancy in Arizona. “Clean energy and clean air are important to the health of our communities and the lands and water upon which all life depends.”

APS already provides customers with an energy mix that is 50 percent clean and getting cleaner. The initiatives announced today will add 850 megawatts of battery storage and at least 100 megawatts of new solar generation by 2025, for a total of 950 megawatts of new clean-energy technology. This represents a major down payment on Arizona’s continued progress toward an energy future that is clean, reliable, and affordable.