Arizona Utilities Announce Effort to Add More In-State Nuclear Power

Yahoo

05-02-2025

Arizona's three major electric power utilities said they will collaborate to explore adding more nuclear power generation in the state, possibly placing small modular reactors (SMRs) or building large reactor projects at the locations of retiring coal-fired power plants. Arizona Public Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP), and Tucson Electric Power (TEP) on Feb. 5 in a news release wrote that they have been 'monitoring emerging nuclear technologies and have a shared interest in evaluating their potential' to provide more electricity to meet the growing demand for power across the state. Officials with Phoenix-headquartered APS said their utility will lead the effort, working with TEP and SRP 'to assess a wide range of possible locations,' including at some of the several closed or soon-to-retire coal-fired power stations in the state. Many U.S. utilities have been adding new generation resources, both thermal and renewable, at closed power plant sites in order to take advantage of existing transmission lines and other infrastructure. Arizona has one operating nuclear power plant, the Palo Verde Generating Station, located about 50 miles west of Phoenix. Palo Verde—which won a POWER Top Plant Award in 2015—has three pressurized water reactors, and a total generation capacity of about 4 GW. It is the only large nuclear power plant in the world not located near a large body of water, receiving its water for cooling from wastewater and well water. The nuclear power station for years was the largest in terms of capacity in the U.S., and now ranks second behind the four-unit, 4.5-GW Plant Vogtle in Georgia, which added two new units—each with about 1,100 MW of generating capacity—over the past two years.
'Energy demand in Arizona is increasing rapidly,' said Ted Geisler, president of APS. 'To ensure a reliable and affordable electric supply for our customers, we are committed to maintaining a diverse energy mix. While new nuclear generation would take more than a decade to develop, the planning and exploration of options must begin now. We are partnering with neighboring utilities to assess the feasibility of new nuclear generation, alongside other resources, to meet the state's growing energy needs.' [caption id="attachment_86142" align="alignnone" width="640"]
The Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona has three pressurized water reactors, with a total of about 4 GW of generation capacity. It is the second-largest nuclear power plant in terms of capacity in the U.S. The facility's three reactors came online between 1986 and 1988. Source: Arizona Public Service[/caption] APS in 2020 said the utility would strive to be carbon-free by 2050. The company was among those with an ownership stake in the 2,250-MW coal-fired Navajo Generating Station near Page, Arizona, that was closed in 2019. The plant was the largest coal-fired facility in the southwestern U.S. Jim Pratt, general manager and CEO of Tempe-based SRP, said, 'SRP is exploring all options to meet the growing energy needs of the Phoenix metropolitan area affordably, reliably and sustainably. We appreciate the collaboration with our neighboring utilities to help determine the role new nuclear generation could play in powering Arizona's future.' Officials on Wednesday said siting work for additional nuclear would consider SMRs in addition to larger, traditional reactors. SMRs are reactors generally with 300 MW or less of generation capacity. 'New nuclear generation could provide Arizona with reliable, around-the-clock carbon-free energy to power economic growth while helping us make progress toward a clean energy future,' said Susan Gray, TEP president and CEO. 'We know the development timeline would be long, so it makes sense for our state's energy providers to begin this preliminary evaluation as soon as possible.'
The utilities on Wednesday said they have applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to begin preliminary exploration of at least one potential site. The application was submitted under the DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations & Office of Nuclear Energy's Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor program. The grant if approved would support a three-year site selection process, and also potential preparation of an early site permit application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The utilities said the grant application is a first step in their collaborative effort, and said a preferred site could be chosen 'in the late 2020s, at the earliest, potentially enabling additional nuclear to be in operation in the early 2040s.' APS serves about 1.4 million homes and businesses in 11 of Arizona's 15 counties, and is the owner and operator of the Palo Verde Generating Station. SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. TEP serves more than 450,000 electric customers in Southern Arizona. TEP and its Tucson-based parent company, UNS Energy Corp., are subsidiaries of Fortis Inc., a North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. —Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.