Palo Verde Unit 1 Sets Production Record

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 1 just completed its best year since beginning commercial operation more than 20 years ago. The unit, which began operation in 1986, generated more than 11.5 billion net kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power in 2009, enough to serve more than a million people in four Southwestern states.

Overall, the three units at Palo Verde produced more than 30 billion net kWh for only the fifth time in its 24-year history. At 30.6 billion net kWh, the amount of electricity the site generated in 2009 was its second highest ever. Palo Verde is the only power plant of any kind in the United States to generate 30 billion kWh in a single year.

In addition, for the second consecutive year, all three units ran continuously for 100 days or more during the three plus months of highest power demand by APS customers.

"Palo Verde’s record-breaking year is the result of our employees’ efforts to continually improve plant performance,” said Randy Edington, Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer for APS, Palo Verde’s operating utility. "Our mission is to ‘SAFELY and efficiently generate electricity for the long term,’ which means investing in the knowledge of our workforce and investing in plant equipment to make it as good as or better than new.”

The increased output is the result of capitalizing on previous decisions to invest in equipment upgrades, including new steam generators and higher efficiency low-pressure turbine rotors in all three units. The upgrades, completed in 2007, resulted in an increase in plant capacity of approximately 270 megawatts.

Palo Verde is the largest nuclear power plant in the nation. Since 1992, the facility also has been the largest power producer of any type in the U.S. Its three units can generate more than four million kilowatts of safe, clean, reliable, low-cost electricity every hour, enough to serve about four million people.

Palo Verde is jointly owned by APS, Salt River Project, Southern California Edison Co., El Paso Electric Co., Public Service Co. of New Mexico, Southern California Public Power Authority and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.

APS, Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electricity utility, serves about 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state’s 15 counties. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the principal subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW).