SRP, Invenergy strike deal for new solar farm to address Phoenix area’s surging power demand

PHOENIX — Salt River Project and Chicago-based Invenergy announced an agreement to build a $209 million solar and battery storage facility in Pinal County. The new solar farm is meant to help meet explosive energy demand in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

The SunDog Energy Center will add 200 megawatts of solar generation and 200 megawatts of four-hour battery storage to the regional power grid. That is enough electricity to power an estimated 45,000 Valley homes, according to the companies.

The agreement comes as SRP scrambles to more than double its power system capacity over the next decade to keep pace with population growth and economic development across the greater Phoenix region, one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the nation.

“Adding solar and storage resources is part of SRP’s all-of-the-above strategy to meet our customers’ growing energy needs with reliable, affordable and sustainable power,” SRP Chief Power System Executive Bobby Olsen said in a statement.

Solar deal adds to Valley’s growing renewable capacity

SRP, a community-based, nonprofit public power utility, serves about 1.1 million customers in the Phoenix area. The utility currently operates 1,455 megawatts of solar, enough to power roughly 327,000 homes.

SRP said even more solar projects will be announced soon.

The SunDog project follows the 2024 completion of SRP’s Eleven Mile Solar Center, also in Pinal County. That facility added enough power to sustain 65,000 homes.

Invenergy is the nation’s largest privately held independent power producer. The SunDog Energy Center will be Invenergy’s 17th facility in Arizona.

“As energy demand continues to grow in Arizona and across the country, hybrid projects like SunDog help strengthen the grid and give utility customers reliable, affordable energy solutions they can trust,” Ted Romaine, Invenergy’s vice president for origination, said in a statement.

SRP also serves as a major water provider in the Valley, delivering approximately 260 billion gallons annually to about 2.5 million residents and managing a 13,000-square-mile watershed.

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