Arizona Utilities Set To Join Markets+ For Stronger, More Resilient Power Grid

Today, Arizona Public Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP), Tucson Electric Power (TEP), and UniSource Energy Services announced that they plan to join Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) new Markets+ energy market. This market will cover areas across the northwest, southwest, and mountain west regions of the U.S. It is expected to improve the reliability of the energy grid and save nearly $100 million, which will be passed on to customers.

The new market will also make it easier to integrate more renewable energy into the grid, which is important as Arizona continues to see growth in both population and energy demand. By joining Markets+, these Arizona utilities will be able to respond more effectively to changes in energy prices and weather events that affect energy use. They will also have access to a broader range of energy sources. After years of planning, APS, SRP, TEP, and UniSource expect to join the market by 2027.

Brian Cole, APS Vice President of Resource Management, said in a statement, “Arizona is one of the fastest growing states in the country and we are thoughtfully planning for the future and evolving our operations to continue to provide top-tier service and reliability to our customers at an affordable cost. Together with our neighboring utilities, APS plans to join Markets+ to efficiently deliver energy and bolster the resilience of our shared energy grid in Arizona and across the region.”

Josh Robertson, SRP Director of Energy Market Strategy, also commented, “SRP’s participation in SPP Markets+ is a key component of our plan to meet the growing energy needs of our customers reliably and affordably and will help us achieve our 2035 Sustainability Goals. We look forward to working with utilities in the region to bring the cost and resilience benefits to our respective customers.”

“Tucson Electric Power and UniSource Energy Services are excited about the value that Markets+ can provide to our customers, including cost savings and greater access to clean energy and other resources that support affordable, reliable service. We look forward to strengthening an already collaborative, productive relationship with Southwest Power Pool, our reliability coordinator, in its new role as market operator,” stated Erik Bakken, TEP Senior Vice President.