Arizona Public Service (APS) officials said they’re looking to a non-coal future for the recently closed Cholla coal-fired power plant, despite President Donald Trump’s calls to keep the facility running. 

APS discussed the Cholla power plant April 24 during a summer preparedness workshop hosted by the Arizona Corporation Commission. APS stopped running the Cholla plant on March 17. 

Jeff Allmon, associate general counsel with APS parent Pinnacle West Capital, said the utility started planning for the closure more than 10 years ago, when APS made a deal to keep the plant running until 2025 without “very expensive” pollution control equipment. Without the agreement, the pollution-control equipment would have been required by 2017 to comply with EPA’s regional haze regulations, Allmon said. 

To keep Cholla running long-term as a coal-fired plant, pollution controls now would be needed. 

“And those would be of a significant scale — selective catalytic reduction — which would come at a significant cost to our customers,” Allmon said. 

And because APS had been planning a “phasedown” of the facility, capital investments and deferred maintenance would be necessary for safe and reliable long-term operation, he added. 

Allmon said APS was preserving infrastructure at the plant, which is being eyed as a potential site for nuclear power. 

“[While] all options are on the table, including gas, the nuclear generation option is really the one that we think offers the most promise,” he said. 

After the workshop, ACC Chair Kevin Thompson and Vice Chair Nick Myers issued statements that highlighted the impacts to ratepayers of keeping the Cholla power plant running. 

“Trying to re-open Cholla at this point would result in significantly higher rates for customers,” Myers said. “The utilities have already been planning for this retirement, and replacement costs are already being borne by the utility customers.” 

“Bringing the Cholla plant into compliance with Obama-era EPA requirements will require the installation of costly scrubbers on the coal-fired units that would cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars,” Thompson said. 

On April 8, Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at keeping existing coal-fired power plants running, removing state laws that hinder the industry, and easing regulations and permitting for coal mining. (See Trump Seeks to Keep Coal Plants Open, Attacks State Climate Policies.) 

During a signing ceremony for the executive orders, Trump instructed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to save the Cholla coal plant in Arizona. 

Peak Load Record

APS hit a record peak load of 8,210 MW in 2024, a year in which Phoenix experienced a record-breaking heat wave. That followed a peak load of 8,162 MW in 2023, which was a record for APS at the time, according to Tim Rusert, APS’s director of power supply services. 

For 2025, APS is adding about 1,550 MW of solar-plus-storage or standalone storage through power purchase agreements, Rusert said during the ACC summer preparedness workshop. 

Rusert said APS will dispatch over 2,100 MW of battery storage this summer, compared to the 600 MW it had last year. 

“We’re confident in this battery storage because … we’ve had a lot of experience working with it,” Rusert said. “It’s a dependable resource. It’s quick reacting. With effective planning, it’s there when you need it.”  

Also during the ACC workshop, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) representatives said the company will retire units 1 and 2 at the coal-fired Springerville power plant in 2027 and 2032, respectively. TEP is exploring whether it can repurpose the Springerville plant for nuclear or gas generation.