Home / Power plants / Arizona / Palo Verde

Palo Verde

Nuclear power plant · Maricopa County, Arizona

Nameplate capacity
4,210 MW
Rank in Arizona
#1
of 200 plants
In service since
1986
January 1986

Details

Primary fuel
Nuclear
Technology
Nuclear
Operator
Arizona Public Service Co
County
Maricopa County
Generating units
3
Share of state capacity
9.85%
Rank among nuclear plants in Arizona
#1 of 1
EIA plant code
6008

Generating units

Individual generating units at Palo Verde
UnitTechnologyNameplateSummerOnlineStatus
1Nuclear1,403 MW1,311 MW1986Operating
2Nuclear1,403 MW1,314 MW1986Operating
3Nuclear1,403 MW1,312 MW1988Operating

Nameplate is the maximum rated output; summer capacity is what the unit can reliably deliver on a hot day, which is typically lower.

Similarly sized plants in Arizona

SpringervilleCoal1,779 MW
SantanNatural gas1,326 MW

About this data

From EIA’s inventory of operable generators, May 2026 release. Capacity is nameplate — the maximum rated output of the equipment, not what the plant actually generates over a year, which depends on how often it runs. A 4,210 MW solar plant and a 4,210 MW nuclear plant have the same entry here and produce very different amounts of electricity.

“In service since” is the earliest in-service date among the units still listed, so a site rebuilt around newer equipment can read as younger than the site itself. All Arizona power plants · What Arizona actually generates