This page tests whether the Southwest could supply the energy required for new water while also adding capacity for communities, industry and future growth.
APS reports Palo Verde can produce about 4,200 MW and is pursuing license renewal that could extend the three units into the mid-2060s.
Existing firm generation provides a reference point for the scale of future power requirements.
Palo Verde’s performance does not prove that three additional reactors should or will be built.
APS, SRP and TEP are jointly conducting a preliminary siting study. They state that no final build decision has been made and no reactor technology has been selected.
New nuclear is a real planning option that can be modeled alongside solar, storage and other resources.
Exploration is not approval, and future cost, schedule, financing and technology remain open questions.
Water does not have to be produced at the exact moment it is consumed. A system with adequate product-water storage can schedule more treatment and some pumping during favorable power periods and reduce those loads during peak grid hours.
Produce more freshwater during favorable power periods → store finished water → reduce desalination and selected pumping during grid peaks → continue water delivery from storage.
The energy model should distinguish annual energy consumption from instantaneous peak demand.
Flexible operation does not eliminate total energy use, and plant ramping, minimum flows, storage volume and water-quality constraints must be validated.
NREL gives a reference seawater reverse-osmosis electricity range of about 3.0–4.5 kWh/m³. At the 3 MAF/year goal (about 2.68 billion gallons per day), that range corresponds to roughly 1.3–1.9 GW of average reverse-osmosis treatment load before long-distance pumping, conveyance and other auxiliary loads.
Energy supply, transmission and operating strategy must be designed together with the water system.
The reference range is not a final project load and should not be treated as including conveyance or all auxiliary systems.
These links open the original publisher or technical source rather than a Save the Southwest summary.
| Palo Verde license renewal | APS | March 2026 | Open ↗ |
| New nuclear exploration | APS / SRP / TEP | June 2026 | Open ↗ |
| APS large-load planning | APS | 2026 | Open ↗ |
| Seawater RO energy reference | NREL | Technical reference | Open ↗ |
| Water–electricity integrated resource management | U.S. Department of Energy | 2016 | Open ↗ |