SRP plans new power infrastructure to keep up with growth in Laveen
Salt River Project is preparing for anticipated growth in the Laveen area of Phoenix.
To accommodate that growth, the utility has proposed a new substation to handle the increased demand along the South Mountain Freeway. SRP is holding three open houses — one in person and two online — to inform the public on the plans for the project and receive input.
The virtual open houses will both be on May 30, with the first at noon and the second at 5:30 p.m. Registration is required to participate. The in-person meeting will be 4:30-6:30 p.m. June 6 at Betty H. Fairfax High School at 8225 S. 59th Ave. in Laveen.
SRP’s plans — called the South Mountain Transmission, or SMT Project — envision a new 500/230/69-kilovolt substation in Laveen, two sets of approximately four to five miles of new overhead double-circuit 230 kV transmission lines, and a half-mile of two new overhead 500 kV transmission lines.
The utility said it has already started identifying options for transmission line routes. It said it is also preparing an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility with the Arizona Corporation Committee for the 230-kV lines. That process will require public hearings with the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee.
SRP said the infrastructure is needed to meet anticipated demand that will come with more development in that part of the city. Phoenix plans could include an industrial and technology park, retail uses, hospitals, hotels and resorts, residential areas and other businesses, according to SRP, which serves that area.
Phoenix sees Laveen corridor as hotspot for growth
Laveen is one of a few areas in the Phoenix city limits along freeways that has plenty of room for growth. In fact, Christine Mackay, the community and economic development director for the city of Phoenix, told a Business Journal forum last week that the city’s 517 square miles of space is only about 70% built out.
Anticipated growth in Laveen and elsewhere in the city — such as the hot area in north Phoenix near the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant — has power providers scrambling to be ready for demand.
Phoenix looking to leverage growth in the Laveen area by creating the South Mountain Technology Corridor around the Loop 202 for advanced manufacturing, with the goal of bringing quality jobs to the growing labor pool as semiconductor, electric vehicle and battery industries boom in Arizona. At full build-out, the new corridor could see 8 million square feet of new industrial space along the freeway.
Last week, Ted Geisler, the president of Arizona Public Service, the Valley’s other electricity provider, said that after years of relatively flat electricity demand in the state, APS is projecting a 40% growth in demand in the next eight years alone because of a mass electrification, increased computing demand and industrial reshoring.
Electricity demand for APS customers reached an all-time peak last summer at 8,162 megawatts in July after a previous record of 7,660 megawatts in 2020. After that, Geisler said last fall that building out the power grid fast enough to keep up with growth is “our biggest strategic imperative over the next decade or so.”