Arizona is one of the nation's sunniest states, so it's no surprise that our energy consumption per capita ranks among the lowest in the U.S., at just over 15,000 kWh per person annually.
It would be a fair assumption to think that Arizona squanders a lot of money and energy running air conditioners half the year. The fact is however, that our state – the 14th most populous in the union – ranks close to the bottom — 43rd among all states — in energy consumption per capita.
In other words, we're using less than half as much electricity as we did just a few decades ago.
The reason for this is simple: Arizona has implemented several policies to make it easier for businesses and homes to reduce their energy consumption through efficiency upgrades or renewable energy sources like solar panels or wind turbines.
The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near the town of Wintersburg, Arizona. It is owned by the Salt River Project (SRP) and operated by Arizona Public Service Company.
The plant uses light water nuclear reactors to generate electricity for SRP customers in Arizona, California and New Mexico.
The Palo Verde Generating Station was built between 1965 and 1968 at a cost of $1 billion. It consists of five reactors that are capable of generating 3,810 megawatts (MW) of power. The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is considered the largest nuclear energy facility in the United States, producing enough electricity to supply more than 2 million homes with electricity year round.
Palo Verde is unique in that it is the only "desert" nuclear plant in the western hemisphere - an engineering feat. Palo Verde reclaims and uses wastewater from local cities for condenser cooling water. For reactor coolant and steam, de-mineralized, de-ionized well water is used.