Salt River Project (SRP) is making progress toward reaching its ambitious 2035 Sustainability Goals, which focus on reducing SRP's carbon footprint, ensuring a resilient water supply, evolving SRP's grid and customer energy solutions, promoting a sustainable supply chain, reducing waste and engaging the customers and communities SRP serves.
In its recently published Fiscal Year 2025 (May 1, 2024 - April 30, 2025) Sustainability Goals update, the company highlights achievements, challenges and upcoming milestones on the path to meeting its 2035 Sustainability Goals.
Key milestones include:
- The addition of more than 700 megawatts (MW) of carbon-free energy generation to SRP's portfolio. This includes 500 MW of new solar generation, 161 MW of new wind generation and 40 MW of carbon free nuclear generation.
- A 5.7% reduction in total water use across SRP's power generation assets, even as systemwide generation grew by 4%.
- The launch of a successful industrial waste diversion program to recycle retired utility poles, which are now being used as fencing, road berms or agricultural structures. SRP diverted 600 tons of poles in the program's first year, successfully keeping them out of Valley landfills.
- A partnership with seven federal, state, local government and nonprofit partners to collaboratively fund and implement 14 forest restoration projects that will restore 33,694 acres across SRP's watershed.
"The 2035 Sustainability Goals underscore SRP's work to achieve our 2050 vision while providing customers with reliable, affordable power," said Bobby Olsen, Associate General Manager and Chief Power System Executive, SRP. "This year's update highlights the many ways teams across SRP have upheld that promise to our customers and the community whether that be water stewardship, adding renewables to the grid or finding new life for hard-to-recycle materials; it is all part of SRP's commitment to a secure water and clean energy future for Arizona."
Originally approved in 2019, the goals are reviewed every five years to ensure they continue to meet the evolving needs of the customers and communities SRP serves. The current goals were recently updated and approved in 2024. The 2035 Sustainability Goals are developed with input from the public and a broad range of stakeholders, including SRP customers, local municipalities, businesses, environmental organizations, limited income advocates and others.
SRP's 2035 Sustainability Goals include:
- Reduce the amount of CO2 emitted by generation (per megawatt hour, or MWh) for retail energy by 82% from 2005 levels by 2035 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
- Deliver over 4 million MWh of annual aggregate energy savings through energy efficiency by 2035.
- Achieve 30% reduction in generation-related water use intensity across all water types from 2005 baseline.
- Increase SRP's leadership role in forest restoration treatments through partnerships, influence, education and support for industry to thin 800,000 acres total by 2035.
To see the full FY2025 Sustainability Goals progress update, visit srp.net/2035.
SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest electricity provider in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving about 1.1 million customers. SRP provides water to about 2.5 million Valley residents, delivering more than 260 billion gallons of water (800,000 acre-feet) each year, and manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive system of reservoirs, wells, irrigation laterals, and 131 miles of canals.
