PHOENIX — It's been a record-setting week in the Valley for power usage at Salt River Project (SRP).
"We just hit our highest peak in history over 8,000 megawatts this week. We're currently planning to be over 12,000 megawatts at our peak about 10 years from now," said Ron Klawitter, SRP's manager for the Systems Project Group.
It's Klawitter's job to help plan SRP's energy future. One of the projects he's working on is called pump storage hydropower.
SRP is proposing to build a reservoir in the cliffs 1,000 feet above Apache Lake. Using excess solar power generated during the day, turbines will pump water from the lake to the reservoir.
At night, it would release the water back down through the turbines providing electricity to thousands of SRP customers.
"What we're doing is making sure we can provide grid stability to all of the service connectors in the valley," Klawitter said.
Before the project can happen, Congress needs to allow extension land available for power projects an additional two miles south of Apache Lake.
On Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee passed, by unanimous consent, a bill sponsored by Arizona Congressman David Schweikert that does that. Congress members Greg Stanton, Ruben Gallego and Debbie Lesko were all cosigners of the bill.
It now goes to the full House.
There is a companion bill in the Senate sponsored by Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kirsten Sinema.
SRP hopes to break ground on the project by 2027.
