For Immediate Release: February 15, 2018
Tucson, Ariz. – A new online dashboard shows in real time how much solar and wind energy Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is delivering to customers.
The new dashboard on tep.com displays the output of 15 solar arrays and two wind farms that make up the majority of TEP’s cost-effective, community-scale renewable energy portfolio. Visitors can see how the systems’ combined output compares to customers’ energy usage and individual system production.
Updated every three minutes, the gauges and graphs offer real-time evidence of TEP’s strong commitment to renewable energy. TEP’s renewable resources already produce enough energy to power 115,000 homes, and the company is working to deliver 30 percent of its power from renewables by 2030. About 11 percent of TEP’s power came from renewables last year, well above Arizona’s 7 percent requirement for 2017.
The percentage of power TEP can provide from renewables varies greatly throughout the day depending on the time, cloud cover, wind conditions and other factors. The new online graphs show how solar power peaks in the middle the day but recedes later in the afternoon, when energy use typically increases.
“The dashboard provides a great visual representation of the impact our renewable resources have on the grid,” said Ted Burhans, Director of Renewable Energy.
The dashboard, available at tep.com/solar-dashboard, also displays:
- The percentage of TEP’s total energy needs satisfied by community-scale renewable resources.
- The number of homes that could be powered by wind and solar energy, based on historic usage.
- Day-to-day comparisons of solar and wind production.
The dashboard does not include the solar power systems at TEP’s Springerville Generating Station in eastern Arizona, smaller test systems or the solar boost system that supplements output at TEP’s Sundt Generating Station in Tucson. It also does not include excess energy from private rooftop solar arrays.
TEP provides safe, reliable electric service to nearly 420,000 customers in Southern Arizona. For more information, visit tep.com. TEP and its parent company, UNS Energy Corporation, are subsidiaries of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. For more information, visit fortisinc.com.
News Media Contact: Joseph Barrios, (520) 884-3725, jbarrios@tep.com
