The Big Idea
In Arizona, electricity is one of those things you only notice when it is missing.
You notice it when the A/C is fighting a July afternoon. You notice it when a monsoon rolls through and your neighborhood lights flicker. You notice it when you move to a new place and the first question becomes, “Who do I set up power with?”
For a huge portion of the Valley, the answer is APS.
APS stands for Arizona Public Service. APS is the state’s largest and longest-serving energy provider, and it serves about 1.4 million homes and businesses in Arizona. APS describes its service territory as stretching across the state, “from the border town of Douglas to the vistas of the Grand Canyon,” and from “the solar fields of Gila Bend” up to “the ponderosa pines of Payson.” It also reports having about 6,300 employees. (source: APS, “About Us.”)
What APS stands for
APS is short for Arizona Public Service.
Despite the name, APS is not a government agency. It is a utility company, and it sits inside a larger corporate structure. APS states that it is “a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW).” (source: APS, “About Us.”)
What APS does
APS generates and delivers electricity across central and northern Arizona. APS’s own description is simple and useful: it provides energy for about 1.4 million customers, across a very large service territory. (source: APS, “About Us.”)
APS also publishes detailed service area maps, covering both statewide and Phoenix-metro footprints. The company says it serves customers in 11 of Arizona’s 15 counties, and those maps help people understand which parts of the Valley belong to APS versus another provider. (source: APS, “Service Area Maps.”)
If you're interested in how APS's pricing plans work alongside SRP, especially for solar customers, check out our guide to Phoenix solar rate changes.
A quick note on “who owns APS”
If you have ever wondered why you sometimes hear “APS” and sometimes hear “Pinnacle West,” here is the clean version:
- APS is the operating utility.
- Pinnacle West Capital Corporation is the parent holding company.
Pinnacle West describes itself as an “investor-owned electric utility holding company” based in Phoenix, and it identifies APS as its main subsidiary. (source: Pinnacle West, “About Us.”)
How APS became a Phoenix institution
APS likes to talk about reliability, safety, and the future of the grid. But the story starts smaller.
Phoenix was a very different place in the 1880s. Early electric service in the city traces back to the company history that includes the Phoenix Light and Fuel Company, established in 1884 in Phoenix. (source: Arizona Memory Project, “Arizona Public Service (APS).”)
Over decades, a handful of early companies and systems became one utility with a statewide footprint. In time, APS became what most people experience today: the utility that quietly keeps modern Arizona running.
Palo Verde matters more than most people realize
When people talk about Arizona’s electricity, the conversation often circles back to one site: Palo Verde Generating Station.
Pinnacle West states that APS “is the operator and co-owner of the Palo Verde Generating Station,” and it describes Palo Verde as “a primary source of clean electricity for the Southwest.” (source: Pinnacle West, “About Us.”)
Government records also describe APS as the licensed operator and a licensed co-owner of Palo Verde. (source: Regulations.gov, NRC docket document.)
This is one of the reasons APS is often discussed in the same breath as long-term grid planning. When you run a system this big, with a footprint this wide, you are always thinking years ahead.
What APS says it is working toward
APS frames its work as “powering Arizona forward” and highlights investments in grid technology and outage response. It also highlights community involvement, including employee volunteerism and charitable contributions. APS says its employees volunteer more than 80,000 hours and that the company contributes more than $10 million to charitable causes. (source: APS, “About Us.”)
On clean energy goals, APS has described an “aspirational” goal to serve customers with carbon-neutral energy by 2050, and it describes that approach as offsetting remaining emissions by 2050. (source: APS, “Clean Energy.”)
Current APS leadership
APS leadership overlaps with Pinnacle West leadership.
APS published a leadership succession announcement stating that APS President Ted Geisler would assume the roles of Chairman, President, and CEO of Pinnacle West and APS effective April 1, 2025. (source: APS Newsroom, “Leadership Succession.”)
That matters because APS is not a small local co-op. It is a massive operation serving a huge portion of the state, and leadership decisions shape long-term planning, infrastructure, and customer experience.
These leadership decisions directly impact rate structures, including demand charges that affect your bill.
Current board makeup (Pinnacle West board)
APS is a subsidiary of Pinnacle West, and Pinnacle West publishes its Board of Directors list. Here is the current board roster as shown on the Pinnacle West “Board of Directors” page:
- Ted N. Geisler (Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, Pinnacle West and APS)
- Glynis A. Bryan (Former CFO, Insight Enterprises Inc.)
- Ronald Butler, Jr. (Retired Arizona Managing Partner, EY)
- Gonzalo A. de la Melena, Jr. (Founder and CEO, Emerging Airport Ventures)
- Carol S. Eicher (Former CEO, Innocor, Inc.)
- Susan T. Flanagan (Operating Partner, Apollo Global Management)
- Richard P. Fox (Independent Consultant; former Managing Partner, Ernst & Young)
- Paula J. Sims (Consultant)
- William H. Spence (Former Chairman, President and CEO, PPL Corporation)
- Kristine L. Svinicki (Adjunct Professor, University of Michigan; Former Chairman, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)
- James E. Trevathan, Jr. (Former EVP and COO, Waste Management Inc.)
(source: Pinnacle West, “Board of Directors.”)
This mix is a good clue to how APS is governed: you see deep utility experience, finance leadership, major enterprise operations backgrounds, and energy regulation expertise.
Why this matters for homeowners
Most people do not want to become experts in utilities. They just want their lights to turn on and their home to stay comfortable.
But understanding “what APS is” helps you make sense of the things you will run into over time, like service maps, outage updates, and the long-term decisions that shape how the grid evolves in Arizona.
APS is not just a logo on a website. It is a decades-long system of people, lines, substations, and planning that exists to keep Arizona moving. If you're on APS's demand-based rates, understanding which appliances trigger peak demand charges can help you manage your monthly bills more effectively.
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Sources
APS, “About Us.”
APS, “Service Area Maps.”
APS Newsroom, “Pinnacle West and APS Announce Leadership Succession.”
Pinnacle West, “About Us.”
Pinnacle West, “Board of Directors.”
Arizona Memory Project, “Arizona Public Service (APS).”
APS, “Clean Energy.”
Regulations.gov, NRC docket document (Palo Verde operator/co-owner reference).