Caring for Our Environment: Preparing for Southern Arizona's Energy Future
At Tucson Electric Power, we recognize that a clean, safe and healthy environment is essential to the community's well-being. That's why we devote so much of our energy to preserving or improving our quality of life.
Solar Power
Thanks to Tucson Electric Power (TEP), the same bright sun that attracted so many people to Arizona will play a big part in powering their future. Our customers' SunShare systems, combined with TEP's solar generation resources, produced just under 9,400 megawatt-hours (MWh) of power in 2006. That's enough energy to meet the annual electric needs of 880 average Tucson homes!
Partnerships with the city of Tucson, local builders and neighborhood improvement districts have helped to establish Tucson as a center of solar innovation.
SunShare
Solar technology is being installed at schools, parks and other community locations through TEP's SunShare program, which reimburses customers for installing photovoltaic systems.
GreenWatts
Customers are invited to "Adopt a Greenwatt," your way to support renewable power projects through monthly contributions.
Methane Gas
TEP is also finding new energy in refuse. Methane gas that once seeped out of the city's Los Reales Landfill and is now captured and burned as fuel at TEP's Sundt Generating Station.
Trees for Tucson
In partnership with Trees for Tucson, TEP has provided our area with more than 50,000 trees. In 2006, more than 3,000 shade trees were planted at hundreds of schools and community project locations.
Green Waste Recycling
Tree limbs and brush trimmed from around utility poles and power lines are made into high-quality fertilizer rather than being discarded in landfills. A large-capacity mulching operation at a TEP generating station also recycles wood waste from commercial landscaping operations in Tucson.
Clean-burning Generation
A new 400 MW coal-fired generating unit under construction at TEP's Springerville Generating Station will be equipped with the best available equipment to limit emissions. The two existing units at SGS are also being retrofitted. As a result, total emissions from all three units will be less than current emissions from the two existing units.
Travel Reduction Program
TEP encourages its employees to carpool or take advantage of alternate modes of transportation. In 2004, these efforts contributed to a 910,000-mile reduction in the number of miles driven by our employees, sparing our local environment from 26,001 pounds of automobile emissions.
Biodiesel Fuel
Since February of 2003, TEP's 228 diesel-fueled vehicles have run on biodiesel, a non-toxic, environmentally friendly fluid produced from soybeans. In 2006, TEP purchased 242,415 gallons of 80/20-blended biodiesel, greatly reducing vehicle emissions.
Raptor Protection Program
To help minimize raptor electrocutions, specially designed birdguards and other protective devices are installed on overhead electric facilities near identified nesting sites.
