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Proper planning for future energy sources plays a critical role in meeting future customer needs in an economical manner while minimizing impacts to the environment. The resource-planning decisions we make today will impact our customers and our company for decades to come.
The challenge is even greater for APS than for many other utilities due to the high load growth APS projects in the future. By 2025, APS is expected to add another 600,000 customers – a 55 percent increase. We’re preparing to meet this added demand by investing in new infrastructure and technologies to ensure our customers’ energy future is cleaner, more efficient, more responsive and more reliable.
In planning for future resource needs, APS faces a number of challenges, including projected customer and electric load growth, fuel-price volatility, limited availability of regional capacity, transmission constraints, construction-cost escalation and climate change issues. As a regulated utility, APS seeks to work with our customers, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and our other stakeholders to develop an integrated resource plan that balances all of these issues and provides the sustainable energy future we all desire. 
On January 29, 2009, APS filed a new APS Resource Plan Report (RPR) with the ACC in which we articulate a preferred plan that, if approved, will allow APS to satisfy an increase of more than 50 percent in customer energy consumption with effectively no increase in CO2 emissions in 2025 over the baseline year of 2009. This plan will allow Arizona to increase its commitment to non-fossil fuel resources and to prevent the emission of 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the plan's timeframe. The plan thoroughly evaluates economic, environmental, technological, projected customer and load growth and other key factors to propose the types of resources needed to meet customer needs.
The RPR and other APS resource plan information are available for public review at www.aps.com/resources. Also, please click on the brochure on the right for a summary of the APS Resource Plan.
"The path to meeting the energy demands of 2025 is challenging and filled with opportunities. Working with the Arizona Corporation Commission, the steps we take now will improve energy security for customers, reduce climate effects and position Arizona as a renewable energy leader for decades to come"
- Don Brandt, CEO, Pinnacle West
Developed with a broad range of public input gathered from meetings with more than 1,300 community leaders, the plan identifies a balanced path to Arizona's energy future. The RPR departs from traditional "least-cost" planning principles by incorporating various issues such as the potential impacts of climate change. By 2025, APS envisions producing a significant amount of power through solar plants and other renewables, while simultaneously helping customers improve the energy efficiency of their homes and businesses.
APS will accelerate the development of renewable energy and will work with the ACC to seize opportunities for early adoption. APS proposes that it will exceed the current Renewable Energy Standard (RES), which requires the company to generate 15 percent of its energy from renewables by 2025. APS expects to add approximately 1,600 megawatts of renewable energy, or enough energy to power about 400,000 homes. Renewables should satisfy about 45 percent of the projected growth in energy consumption.
The graph below shows the projected APS energy mix in 2009 compared to 2025 under the RPR.
Energy efficiency is also a critical component of our future plan. Under the RPR, efficiency efforts could yield a reduction of almost 600 MW of demand from the grid, enough energy to power more than 110,000 homes. Please see the RPR and the Demand Side Management section of this report for more information on our energy efficiency programs.
In keeping with best practices, APS will also evaluate options for new nuclear power as a baseload resource beyond 2020. Under the RPR, APS will attempt to moderate increases in natural-gas consumption and to limit, where prudent, its utilization over time. The company will require new gas resources to replace expiring contracts and to help meet summer peak demand. APS has not included new coal-fired generation in the proposed plan, primarily due to climate change concerns.
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