For Valley homeowners who already have solar
You did the right thing installing solar.
Your panels still make the power you were promised. What changed is the other side of the meter.
Same kWh. Two prices.
What you export at noon comes back at dinner for up to six times more.
Noon. You sell for6 to 13¢your locked rate, by install year
5 pm. You buy it back for34 centssummer on-peak, before adjustors
The grid is running out of room.
And the data centers keep coming.
50,000homes dark, one August night
4demand records in a row
10,600MWof data centers planned
One battery changes which plan you're on.
It covers the 4 to 7 pm window, so the cheap plan finally works for a solar home.
- NoonSolar fills the battery, not the grid.
- 4 to 7 pmThe house runs on the battery. Your draw from APS stays near zero.
- ThenYou qualify for the plan where power is 5.9 cents, and the A/C runs when the grid can't.
Know what a battery would do for your house.
Two minutes. Get your estimate by email, on a quick call, or in person. You choose.
Your price has doubledAbout 11 cents per kWh in 2010. 21 to 25 cents all-in on the APS time-of-use plan today.EIA SEDS 2010. APS TOU-E tariff and adjustors, 2026. Method below.
34.4¢The summer 4 to 7 pm price you pay to buy power back. Your exports earn your locked rate, 6 to 13 cents depending on your install year.APS TOU-E tariff. APS RCP schedule.
~$20/moThe increase APS has asked for, about 14 percent, plus a mechanism to raise rates every year after. Vote by December 31.ACC docket E-01345A-25-0105
2040sThe earliest APS says new nuclear could come online. Until then the plan is gas plants in 2027, 2029 and 2030, paid for by all customers.APS and Pinnacle West, Feb 2025 and Jun 2026.
Your price has doubled since 2010. Here is when it doubles again.
In 2010 the average Arizona home paid about 11 cents per kWh. An APS home on the required time-of-use plan pays 21 to 25 cents today once the fuel adjustor, surcharges and the daily service charge are counted. Project that forward at the pace APS itself has set since 2023 and the price reaches 46 cents in about ten years.
Hover the lineShaded band: the range from the long-run pace to APS's own pace.
Four things pushing the price, none of them going away.
A rate increase pending now, then one every year.
APS has asked for about $20 a month more per home, and for a formula that adjusts rates annually instead of every few years. The judge's recommendation is due in November; the vote by December 31.
ACC docket E-01345A-25-0105. KJZZ, Jun 2025.Demand APS says it cannot yet serve.
APS expects peak demand up 40 percent by 2031 with about 10 GW of data-center requests in its queue, and told regulators it is worried about spreading those costs onto residential customers.
Utility Dive, Nov 2024. APS IRP.Gas plants first, and every customer pays for them.
Redhawk in 2027, Cholla in 2029 and Desert Sun in 2030. APS says the first phase of the new plant supports all existing customers. The fuel adjustor on your bill went from zero in 2017 to 1.7 cents today.
APS newsroom, Oct 2025 and Jul 2026. Pinnacle West 10-K.Nuclear is the long answer, and it is 15 years out.
APS, SRP and TEP are studying old coal sites for a new plant. No technology, size or cost is chosen; the federal grant they sought was not awarded; the earliest operation is the early 2040s, at $5 to 10 billion per project that regulators expect customers to carry.
Pinnacle West, Jun 24 2026. Arizona Capitol Times, Feb 2026. Axios Phoenix, Feb 2025.What changed for youAPS TOU-E and R-3 tariffs. APS RCP plan of administration.
You did the right thing installing solar. Then the math moved.
Your export rate is locked for ten years from the day you interconnected, and that part is good news. The problem is what you pay to pull power back after the sun drops: summer 4 to 7 pm on the default solar plan is 34.4 cents per kWh, and on the demand plan one bad hour at 7 kW is a charge of about $137 before a single kWh is billed. Pick your install year to see your own gap.
You sell at10.4¢locked through 2029
You buy back at37.7¢summer 4 to 7 pm, with adjustors
The gap3.6xon every kWh you export at noon and buy back at dinner
After 2029 your export credit drops to whatever the rate is then. For new systems it is 5.55¢ today and has fallen every year since 2017.
APS RCP rate schedule and plan of administration. TOU-E tariff. Adjustors as of September 2026.
From time-of-use to time-of-use with demand, with a battery in between.
APS gives solar homes two plans. Most sit on the default one, where evening power costs 34 cents. The other one sells power for 5.9 cents off-peak, cheaper than your export rate, but charges you for your single worst hour between 4 and 7 pm. That charge is why nobody with solar alone can use it. A battery is what makes it usable.
- Where you are
Time-of-use
- Sell at noon for your locked rate.
- Buy back at 5 pm for 34 cents.
- Nothing to do about the gap.
- The plan you want
Time-of-use with demand
- Off-peak power is 5.9 cents.
- One charge for your worst on-peak hour.
- Solar alone can't hold that hour down. A battery can.
- What makes it work
One battery, sometimes two
- Fills at noon from your own panels.
- Runs the house 4 to 7 pm so the demand charge stays small.
- Sized to your system, your production and what you still buy from APS.
Which plan and how many batteries depends on your system size, your usage and your interconnection. That is what the estimate works out. Plan prices from the APS TOU-E and R-3 tariffs.
When the grid goes down
50,000 homes went dark in one August night.
On August 9 an 84 mph downburst hit Buckeye and took down more than 120 poles across the West Valley; APS said it had not seen that much damage in a very long time. Maricopa County counted 111 indoor heat deaths last year, and in 72 percent of them the home had an A/C that wasn't running.
National Weather Service Phoenix, Aug 9 2026. KJZZ, Aug 10 2026. Maricopa County Public Health, 2025 report.This isn't an Arizona problem. It's a supply problem, and Arizona is at the front of it.
APS says its grid is full. The data centers keep coming.
APS has 4,000 MW of data-center load already promised and told regulators it can't serve new ones. Nearly 19 GW more sits in its queue, over twice today's entire system. Glendale is advancing a 160-acre data center with its own gas plant beside Luke AFB. The Attorney General has called for a statewide pause.
KJZZ, Sep 2 2026. APS IRP. AZBEX and ABC15, Sep 1 to 2 2026. Arizona Mirror, Aug 31 2026.
Nationally, demand is growing faster than supply can be built.
NERC projects U.S. peak demand up 24 percent in ten years, the fastest since it began tracking. A large transformer now takes about 2.5 years to get; gas turbines are booked into the 2030s. The Energy Department has issued 18 emergency grid orders since June. Americans averaged 11 hours without power in 2024, nearly double the prior decade.
NERC 2025 LTRA. Wood Mackenzie via POWER, Jan 2026. DOE CESER. EIA, Dec 2025.Three ways to add a battery in Arizona.
The 30 percent federal credit for a battery you buy ended December 31, 2025. It still applies to a battery a finance company owns, through 2032, which is why most West Valley retrofits now start with one of the first two options. Your estimate lays all three side by side for your home.
Nothing down. The finance company carries the federal credit.
- No money down and no loan on your credit report. Approval is a soft credit check.
- The finance company claims the 30 percent federal credit and builds it into your terms.
- Maintenance, monitoring and replacement are covered for the full term.
- Transfers to the buyer if you sell your home.
- Can still earn APS Storage Rewards or SRP Battery Partner payments, depending on the lease terms.
Best for: Homeowners who want backup and a lower evening bill without spending cash.
Palmetto LightReach Energy Backup program terms, 2026. APS Storage Rewards terms. Section 48E.Pay once, with the federal credit already taken off.
- One up-front payment at a price that already reflects the 30 percent federal credit.
- No monthly payment and no interest.
- Buy the system out at a set point, typically year five, and own it outright.
- Covered for maintenance during the lease term.
Best for: Homeowners with cash who still want the federal credit's value.
Solar.com, Jun 2026. pv magazine, Apr 2026.Own it from day one.
- Cash or a loan is still an option, even without the federal credit.
- You keep the battery, the warranty and every APS Storage Rewards or SRP Battery Partner payment.
- No lease terms, no escalator, nothing to transfer when you sell.
Best for: Homeowners who want full ownership from day one.
APS Storage Rewards and SRP Battery Partner program terms, 2026.Arizona Energy Advisors works only with installers on APS's Qualified Technology Installer list or SRP's Preferred Solar Installer list, licensed with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.
Terms vary by product, home and credit. Every quote shows price, warranty and savings method in bold, as Arizona law requires.
This week in Arizona energy
What changed since you last looked
Sep 2Grid
APS hasn't signed a new data center since 2024. It can't serve them at night.
KJZZAug 31Policy
Attorney General Mayes calls for a statewide pause on new data centers.
Arizona Mirror, azfamily, KTARJun 24Nuclear
APS, SRP and TEP fund their own siting study after the federal grant falls through. Earliest operation: early 2040s.
Pinnacle West, SRPJul 10Rates
Rate case timeline set: judge's recommendation late November, vote by December 31, new rates early 2027.
Arizona Corporation CommissionJun 16Courts
Court of Appeals throws out APS's solar-only grid-access fee. APS wants it back, doubled.
KJZZ, Arizona Attorney GeneralSep 1Batteries
Arizona installed more battery storage in Q2 than any state in any quarter on record: 6.2 GWh.
SEIA and BenchmarkFree battery estimate
Know what a battery would actually do for your house before the next rate decision.
Arizona Energy Advisors works only with installers on APS's Qualified Technology Installer list or SRP's Preferred Solar Installer list, licensed with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.
Straight answers
What does a battery cost in 2026?
It depends on the battery, whether you need one or two, and whether your electrical panel needs work, which is exactly what the estimate works out. The 30 percent federal credit ended December 31, 2025 for batteries you buy; a leased or prepaid battery still carries it through the finance company.
Will it pay for itself?
That depends on your plan, your usage and how the price above moves, and it is exactly what the estimate works out for your house. The short version: the demand plan is where a battery earns its keep, and a fixed payment against a price that has doubled since 2010 is the real comparison. Anyone promising a 5-year payback in your driveway is guessing.
Do I lose my locked export rate if I add a battery?
APS's rules address adding solar capacity, not adding a battery, and we have not found a rule that resets your 10-year rate for a battery-only retrofit. It is not confirmed in writing, so we check it for your specific interconnection before any quote.
What about the new nuclear plant?
APS, SRP and TEP are studying sites for one. No technology, size or cost has been chosen, the federal grant they applied for was not awarded, and the earliest operation is the early 2040s. Between now and then the plan is gas plants and annual rate adjustments.
Can I still get any incentive?
APS Storage Rewards pays enrolled batteries $110 per average kW each summer. SRP's Battery Partner pays $55 per kW twice a year. Leased or prepaid batteries capture the 30 percent federal credit through the finance company. Arizona's solar energy credit is 25 percent up to $1,000 per home for a device you own; a solar-charged battery likely qualifies if you haven't already used the full credit on your panels.
Which battery works with my existing system?
Most 2019 to 2024 systems take an AC-coupled battery without touching the panels. Which unit fits depends on your inverter, and that is part of the estimate. In Arizona it also matters where it goes: a north wall or the garage, never a sun-facing wall, because every battery derates above about 105 degrees.