Your APS or SRP Bill Is About to Get More Expensive. Here's What Phoenix Homeowners Are Doing About It.

Something is happening to electric bills in the Phoenix Valley right now — and if you haven't noticed it yet on your APS or SRP statement, you will soon.

Arizona Public Service has filed for a rate increase of nearly 14%, with new rates expected as early as July 2026. Salt River Project already moved — raising fixed monthly charges by 50% in November 2025, making its fixed charge one of the highest of any public utility in the country. That charge hits your bill regardless of how much you conserve.

Combine that with a Phoenix summer that starts pushing 100°F before Memorial Day and runs well past Labor Day — plus a World Cup Final on July 19th that has millions of Arizonans running TVs, streaming devices, and air conditioners at full capacity all at the same time — and the picture gets expensive fast.

Your kids are home for summer. The AC runs all day. And now the games are on. Every goal-scoring moment comes with a very real cost on the back end.

The Phoenix homeowners who went solar are watching this rate environment unfold from a comfortable position. Their panels are still producing the same amount of electricity at the same cost: zero per kilowatt-hour. The rate increases don't touch them.

If you haven't made the move yet, this is the summer to understand why it's worth doing — and what it actually looks like in the Valley.

Why APS and SRP Rate Increases Hit Phoenix Harder Than Almost Anywhere

Arizona's electricity rates are actually below the national average when you look at the per-kilowatt-hour price. But that number is misleading for Valley homeowners.

The problem isn't the rate — it's the volume. Phoenix summers regularly push household consumption to 2,000–2,500+ kWh per month in July and August for larger homes. That's two to three times what a typical household uses in a moderate climate. When a 14% rate increase lands on a $350 summer bill, you're not looking at $14 more per month. You're looking at $50 or more — every month from May through October.

For SRP customers, the situation has an extra layer: the fixed monthly charge now hits regardless of usage. Even if you install efficient appliances, program your thermostat, and shift loads to off-peak hours, you pay the fixed charge no matter what. It removes one of the primary tools homeowners have always had to manage their bills: reducing consumption.

Solar doesn't just offset your usage charges. For SRP customers especially, it produces electricity that replaces what you would have bought at the on-peak rate — the most expensive electricity on your plan — during the hours your system is generating.

The APS vs. SRP Solar Situation: What You Need to Know

Your solar economics in Phoenix depend heavily on which utility serves your address — and most homeowners don't fully understand the difference.

APS (Arizona Public Service) serves most of west Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Flagstaff. For solar customers, APS currently credits excess power exported to the grid at approximately 6–11 cents per kWh, locked in for 10 years from the date your system connects. Critically: that 10-year rate lock means the sooner you go solar, the higher your guaranteed export rate — the ACC has established a schedule where export rates may decrease up to 10% annually for new customers. Every month you wait is a potential step down in your locked-in credit rate.

SRP (Salt River Project) serves most of Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and parts of Scottsdale. SRP's solar buyback rate is lower than APS — around $0.02–$0.06 per kWh — which is why battery storage becomes more valuable for SRP customers. Rather than exporting excess power at a low credit rate, a battery lets you store midday solar generation and use it during on-peak hours (4–7pm weekdays), when SRP's rates are at their highest. That's self-consumption instead of export, and it's where the real bill savings live.

If you're not sure which utility serves your home, check your bill — it's the single most important factor in how your solar system gets designed.

What Solar Actually Does to a Phoenix Electric Bill

Arizona averages 7.5 peak sun hours per day — the highest in the contiguous United States. A properly sized solar system in Phoenix can offset 80% to 100% of a typical home's annual electricity consumption.

When APS raises rates by 14%, your panels keep producing the same electricity at the same cost. When SRP raises its fixed charge, your solar system is reducing the usage charges that make up the rest of your bill. The math gets more compelling every time the utilities raise rates — which is why homeowners who went solar a few years ago are now watching their neighbors absorb increases they're mostly insulated from.

A well-designed system also increases your home's value. Research consistently shows Phoenix homes with solar sell for approximately 4% more than comparable homes without — and thanks to Arizona's property tax exemption for solar, that increased value doesn't raise your property tax bill.

Current Incentives in Arizona for 2026

The incentive landscape has shifted, but there are still meaningful ways to reduce the upfront cost of going solar in Arizona right now:

Arizona State Tax Credit: Up to $1,000, applied to your state income taxes the year after installation.

Sales Tax Exemption: Arizona exempts solar equipment from the state's 5.6% sales tax — a meaningful reduction on a $25,000–$40,000 system.

Property Tax Exemption: The added home value from your solar system is fully exempt from property tax assessment.

30% Federal Battery Tax Credit: If you add a battery storage system to your solar installation, a 30% federal tax credit applies to the battery portion. This is a significant incentive for SRP customers who benefit most from storage.

APS Solar Export Rate Lock: As noted above, getting interconnected sooner locks in your current export credit rate before it decreases for future customers.

One important note: the federal residential solar tax credit (Section 25D) expired for homeowners at the end of 2025. If you're working with an installer offering a prepaid lease structure, the commercial credit can still be passed through as a 30% upfront discount — ask specifically how any proposal handles this.

Don't Wait Until September to Think About This

Phoenix homeowners have a consistent pattern: they think about their electricity bill in July and August when the statements are brutal, then let it fade from mind by October when the weather breaks. Then June arrives again, and the cycle repeats.

The homeowners who broke the cycle are the ones who acted on the summer frustration instead of waiting it out. In a year when both major Valley utilities have raised rates — and more increases are proposed — the case for locking in your energy costs with solar is as strong as it has been in years.

Empower Home Services serves the Phoenix metro area — including Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert, Glendale, and Peoria — with full-service solar installation backed by our whole-home approach. We handle the design, permitting, installation, and utility interconnection, and we'll walk you through exactly what your bill looks like before and after.

Call us at 800-306-6953 or visit empoweryourhome.com to schedule your free solar assessment.

The games are on. The AC is running. Your bill is coming. Solar is the one move that changes what that envelope looks like next July.

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Empower Home Services offers solar installation in the greater Phoenix metro area including Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, and Peoria. Rate increase figures sourced from APS rate case filings and SRP announcements. Solar savings vary by system size, home energy usage, utility rate plan, and other factors. Call 800-306-6953 for a free assessment.