---
title: "APS Desert Sun Gas Plant for Large Industrial Loads"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/2bf67e8f-e38e-40d3-859e-bb91f3d2a79c
source_url: "https://www.power-eng.com/gas/data-centers-to-help-fund-apss-2000-mw-desert-sun-gas-power-project/"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/business/stack/73f773c9-16cc-4a97-bc6a-81b6a850a924
summary: "Arizona Public Service (APS) announced plans for the Desert Sun Power Plant project west of Gila Bend, a natural gas facility designed to add up to 2,000 MW of generation capacity to support Arizona's growing energy needs and extra-large industrial users like data centers. The two-phase project uses a subscription model where extra-large customers fund Phase 2 through long-term contracts, protecting existing customers from expansion costs while supporting renewable energy integration."
tags: "natural-gas, power-generation, arizona, data-centers, renewable-energy, infrastructure, energy-demand"
key_entities: "Arizona Public Service (APS) (organization), Gila Bend, Arizona (location), Arizona (location), Jacob Tetlow (person), Desert Sun Power Plant (concept), growth pays for growth strategy (concept), natural gas generation (technology), data centers (concept)"
classification: "reference"
content_hash: "sha256:6ae9250849b95702687048a28a7f68780d4b2ac61126dabf461001acae7361fc"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 813
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# APS Desert Sun Gas Plant for Large Industrial Loads

Home / Gas Source: Arizona Public Service. Arizona Public Service (APS) announced plans to develop a site west of Gila Bend, Arizona, capable of adding up to 2,000 megawatts (MW) of generation to the state’s energy portfolio. The two-phase Desert Sun Power Plant project would be a new natural gas facility “designed to meet Arizona’s rapidly growing needs, support unprecedented demand from extra-large energy users and enhance integration of renewable energy resources,” APS said. The project would support current customer growth through a competitive procurement process in Phase 1 and enable new “extra-large” customer investments via a subscription model in Phase 2. “Arizona’s energy needs are growing faster than at any time in our history,” said Jacob Tetlow, APS Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Additional natural gas generation is essential to support our existing customers and to begin addressing unprecedented requests from extra-large energy users, such as data centers. By pursuing a ‘growth pays for growth’ strategy, this project protects customers while supporting data centers needed for the U.S. to compete globally.” The proposed subscription model is meant to ensure that Phase 2 would be paid for by the extra-large customers who would use it – not by existing residential or business customers. Extra-large users would sign long-term contracts covering the capital costs and assuming development risks. By having extra-large energy users fund a portion of the plant’s capacity through long-term subscription agreements, APS argues it can accelerate infrastructure development without shifting costs to existing customers. “Phase 1 will support all customers, helping to meet spikes in demand – such as those on hot summer afternoons – and keeping electricity flowing when renewable power from solar and wind isn’t available,” Tetlow said. “Phase 2 ensures that as Arizona continues to grow, we are relying on innovative solutions to help protect existing customers from the costs associated with expansion. Partnering with our extra-high load customers to maintain cost fairness is a part of our plan.” By 2028, APS plans to add nearly 7,300 MW of new resources to support the state’s growth and maintain service during high-demand conditions.  “Natural gas is an important partner to the large quantity of renewable resources we’re adding to our portfolio and provides flexible, on-demand energy to ensure reliability for customers, especially on our hottest summer days,” Tetlow said. Business Gas News #APS #DTECH Data Centers Must View The turbine slot is the new critical path. POWERGEN 2027 examines what that means for plant execution With turbines sold out into 2029, Fluor’s James Brown says owners are buying powertrain equipment first and absorbing integration risk once covered by the wrapped EPC model. Business Gas Turbines News #POWERGEN News AI moves inside the plant: 1898 & Co. previews its POWERGEN case study Chris Wiles explains how a Cleco pilot is pulling decades of scattered asset data into one searchable source, part of POWERGEN’s broader focus on AI in plant performance and efficiency. News O&M #1898 & Co. #POWERGEN News