Tucson just experienced another record-breaking summer, with 112 days of triple-digit highs, exceeding our previous peak of 108 such days in 2020. We also set numerous new daily high temperature records, including during a 13-day stretch of 100-degree-plus days in October.
Even so, TEP customers kept their cool, helping us hold energy use below the previous record peak of 2,446 MW on June 16, 2021. After setting that mark, we created fun ads encouraging customers to help us Defeat the Peak, and we haven’t set a new peak record since.
“We had a little more cushion than we might have expected given the duration of unrelenting record heat this year,” said Sam Rugel, TEP’s Director of System Control & Reliability. “I think it’s important to acknowledge our customers’ response and the steps they’ve taken as a whole to conserve resources and help us manage peak demand.”
TEP works all year to ensure reliable service during Southern Arizona’s punishing summers. “We remain among the top tier of energy providers in the nation for our service reliability because of careful planning, efficient operations, investments in our system, skilled employees and great geography,” Rugel said. “When it comes to managing the peak, there’s one more important ingredient: Our partnership with our customers.”
In some previous years, particularly during regional heat waves with excessive heat warnings, TEP has had to issue calls to conserve on certain days when regional energy demand rose to levels that threatened adequate supply.
Phoenix-area residents endured nearly four straight months of triple digit heat this summer, and the utilities serving them set new peak energy demand records this year. Not here. Here are the top three ways customers did their part to support reliable power this summer:
Defeating the peak: Using lots of power between 3-7 p.m. on summer days puts a real strain on our local grid, particularly when heat waves drive usage higher across the western United States. Limiting energy use during those hours helps keep our service reliable and affordable, since TEP pays a premium for the resources customers need during peak summer periods.
Using energy at midday and in the evening also makes the most of our wind and solar systems, which produce more power during off-peak hours.
During peak periods, you can help by setting your thermostat to 78 and avoiding the use of large appliances. You also can schedule your pool pump for other times and use a ceiling fan to make your room feel cooler at a higher thermostat setting.
Customers who can shift energy away from those key times might also save some money by enrolling in on one of our three Time-of-Use pricing plans. These plans reward customers with lower rates when they use less energy during our summer and winter peak hours. You can use our Pricing Planner tool or call Customer Care for help deciding which plan is the best fit for your lifestyle and energy habits.
Participating in Smart Rewards: About 13,000 customers who joined this program agreed to allow TEP to direct their smart thermostats to conserve energy when it mattered most: during a handful of hours each year when temperatures and energy use were high. Their collective contributions during six events this year relieved strain on the grid.
By working together, we reduced overall usage by an average of 20 megawatts during the first hour of each event, reducing the amount of power we had to generate or purchase. That’s about half the capacity of a typical natural gas-fired turbine generator that we sometimes use to satisfy peak energy demand, so the savings helped reduce fuel cost and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Participating customers earn $50 and additional annual incentives and can opt out of events at any time, maintaining control of their thermostat. See a short video here on what we accomplished together. https://www.tep.com/news/net-zero-hero-smart-rewards/
Saving energy: Customers will play an important role in helping us achieve our aspirational goal of net zero direct greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which we announced in our 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).
We promote awareness of smart energy use through education, outreach and financial incentives. These efforts help customers save money while reducing our resource needs, helping to keep our rates affordable.
We’re making clear progress. From 2011- 2023, our customers partnered with us to achieve cumulative lifetime savings over 22.8 million tons of CO2 emissions, 10,911 million gallons of water and 24 million megawatt hours of electricity. Those efforts, along with coal plant retirements and the expansion of wind and solar resources, contributed to a 37 percent reduction in TEP’s CO2 emissions between 2019 and 2023.
To learn more about how you can support our path to net zero, sign our pledge to be a Net Zero Hero and order a free cap, cape or shirt to share your commitment with others.
