Arizona’s largest utility will no longer seek to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and will also scrap its interim climate goals, company officials said Wednesday.
The announcement by Arizona Public Service comes amid a period of massive load growth fueled by data centers and extreme heat in the state. Ted Geisler, the CEO of APS and parent company Pinnacle West, said on a company earnings call that transitioning away from interim climate goals would “better reflect our near-term focus on reliability and affordability for our customers.”
The company is also adjusting its long-term climate goal. Rather than a goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050, it will instead aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. That means the company could continue to use fossil fuel power, but would offset those emissions through other means.
The announcement also came the same day that APS and other Arizona utilities revealed commitment plans to draw from Transwestern Pipeline’s Desert Southwest natural gas pipeline expansion. The project will deliver gas from the Permian Basin to Arizona by late 2029.
