SCPPA Participants: Azusa, Banning, Burbank, Colton, Glendale, Imperial Irrigation District, LADWP, Pasadena, Riverside, Vernon

Year Built:1980

Peak Plant Capacity: 4,010 MW

Future Plans:
With the completion of steam generator replacements earlier this year, coupled with other equipment changes and upgrades, the plant's capacity increased by more than 5 percent or about 210 megawatts, bringing the plant total to approximately 4,010 megawatts, enough to serve more than 1.2 million customers.

The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, located about 55 miles west of Phoenix, has been the largest power producer of any kind in the United States since 1992. Its three units are capable of generating nearly 4,000 megawatts of electricity.

Because of its desert location, Palo Verde is the only nuclear plant in the United States that does not sit on a large body of water. Instead, it uses treated effluent from several area municipalities to meet its cooling water needs, recycling 20 billion gallons of wastewater each year.

Palo Verde, the largest single commercial taxpayer in Arizona, is operated by APS and is owned by a consortium of seven utilities in the Southwest. APS owns 29.1 percent of the plant.

The steam generators in Unit 2 were successfully replaced during the fall of 2003. At fiscal 2004 year-end, the plant was poised to replace the steam generators in Unit 1, with Unit 3 to follow in 2007.