Salt River Project announced an agreement with NextEra Energy Resources to develop 3,000 megawatts of new solar generation by the end of 2034, according to an SRP press release issued April 30, 2026. The 3,000 MW represents enough capacity to power 595,000 Arizona homes. The Salt River Project solar deal calls for 500 MW of solar to be constructed each year from 2029 through 2034.
Scale and Location
For comparison, the Silver King Energy Center, denied unanimously by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors on February 18, 2026, would have combined 800 MW of solar, 800 MW of four-hour battery storage, and 400 MW of natural gas generation on 8,122 acres near Florence Junction. It would have been the county’s largest energy development.
The SRP press release did not identify project sites, acreage, or counties for the new 3,000 MW.
Why SRP Is Buying This Much Solar
In an April 2026 presentation to the Casa Grande Planning and Zoning Commission, Pinal Partnership President and CEO Craig McFarland told commissioners that Arizona urgently needs new power resources to keep pace with regional growth. McFarland said SRP may need to more than double, and possibly triple, its power system over the next decade. The April 30 press release describes SRP’s stated plan as more than doubling capacity by 2035.
Months earlier, in a September 2025 study session with the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, representatives from SRP and APS told supervisors that statewide demand is being driven by population growth, electrification, and large industrial users, including data centers. According to that presentation, SRP serves more than 90,000 customers in Pinal County and anticipates 12% annual growth there over the next decade. APS reports that Pinal County has become the top region outside metro Phoenix for new meter installations.
Both utilities told supervisors at the September session that solar paired with battery storage is the fastest near-term option to add capacity, with natural gas as a complement. APS suggested exploring small nuclear reactors in 10 to 15 years, while SRP’s Director of Resource Planning Acquisition and Development Bill McClellan said SRP views nuclear as more of an early 2040s technology.
According to figures SRP shared at the September session, the utility contributed $35.9 million in taxes to Pinal County in the prior year. SRP’s April 30 press release reports the utility currently has over 1,500 MW of solar and more than 1,570 MW of battery storage supporting its grid, with additional solar and storage capacity in development.
“We look forward to working with NextEra Energy Resources to add the magnitude of new solar energy we need at the pace required to meet the increasing energy demand of our customers,” said Bobby Olsen, SRP Associate General Manager and Chief Power System Executive. He added that the approach will allow early collaboration during project development to reduce risk.
Existing NextEra Projects
According to the press release, NextEra has already developed more than 1,000 MW across five projects currently serving SRP customers: Sonoran Solar Energy Center, Storey Energy Center, Saint Solar Energy Center, Pinal Central Energy Center, and Babbitt Ranch Energy Center.
Brian Bolster, President and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, said the company plans to continue its existing relationship with SRP and develop additional solar generation in Arizona.
Recent SRP Solar Activity
The agreement follows two other SRP solar announcements in recent weeks. On March 17, 2026, SRP and Invenergy announced the SunDog Energy Center, a 200 MW solar and 200 MW battery storage project located in Pinal County. According to that release, SunDog will provide enough capacity to power up to 45,000 Valley homes and is expected to generate more than $209 million in local tax revenue, land costs, and lease payments. The project will also support 200 to 400 jobs at peak construction. SunDog is Invenergy’s first operational site in Pinal County and its 17th facility in Arizona.
Then on April 15, 2026, SRP announced that the 55-MW Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center (CCERC) PV Solar Project in Florence had begun serving customers. That earlier release said the site provides enough solar energy to power 11,000 Arizona homes annually while testing three types of photovoltaic panels, three solar trackers, and three inverter configurations to inform future deployments.
Olsen, who also commented on the Copper Crossing launch, said at the time that the facility would help serve customers in time for what SRP expected would be record demand this summer. The CCERC additionally hosts sky cameras designed to improve solar production forecasting by tracking cloud movement in real time.
