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Myth. DSM programs are based on voluntary participation where customers / members would make changes to their private property to reduce their energy usage and therefore the utilities energy loads. Without having control or requiring participation there is a nominal reduction compared to total power usage.
Myth. MEC has never deliberately caused large power outages due to lack of power. MEC opts to buy the power, often times expensively, on the market, rather than having rolling blackouts. However, there are limits on how much power is available on the open market. That's why the MEP is needed.
Myth. LM6000 natural gas units use aero-derivative technology to process fuel efficiently, and they also have sound controls, unlike jet engines that do not have sound controls. The natural gas units come equipped from the manufacturer with package sound suppression (air intake and vent silencers) and multi-stage stack silencing baffles. Sound modeling shows that any sound at nearby residences will comply with the EPA threshold for public health and welfare.
Myth. The natural gas turbines will use approximately 60% less water than the current amount allowed for agriculture farming uses.
Myth. AEPCO purchased existing water rights from the previous land owners. As a result, water that would be used for the Mohave Energy Park project was already allocated to the properties and accounted for through the Mohave Valley Irrigation and Drainage District (MVIDD). Per compliance with MVIDD, AEPCO must monitor water usage and submit monthly reports.
Fact. When AEPCO purchased the land for Mohave Energy Park, the sale also included existing water rights for those properties. The water allocations associated with the properties are sufficient to operate and maintain Mohave Energy Park now and into the future. After working with hydrologists and completing onsite due diligence activities, AEPCO determined that two existing groundwater wells located on the property would supply adequate water for the project and usage would be within the allocated water rights.
Myth.The project will not affect the water quality of your wells because any process water produced during operation will be directed into lined pond(s) with a leak detection and collection system. Protection of the groundwater is overseen by ADEQ through issuance of the Aquifer Protection Permit.
Myth. The project will be regulated by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and will utilize Best in Class Air Emission Controls. Emissions are projected to be 98% lower than National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
Fact. Emissions are 90%+ lower than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards set to protect public health.
Fact. As part of the air permit application process, ADEQ issued the draft air permit for public comment and held a public hearing in Mohave Valley, Arizona.
Myth. There are more than 3,000 existing power plants today within 3 miles or less of housing. Power plants are permitted and built all over the country even as close as 500 feet or less from housing. Current site plans show that MEP will be more than 5,280 feet away from nearest residence.
Myth. EPA allows power plants to be built within 3 miles of residential areas. EPA does not have a minimum distance requirement between a power plant and residential area. EPA's recommended 3-Mile radius is used to define the area around the power plant. EPA's “EJ screen” tool was used for the MEP and no issues were identified for the proposed project within the 3-mile boundary.
Myth. Residential areas often closely neighbor power generating facilities. There are at least 10 existing power plants in Arizona that are ½ mile or less from houses. The average power plant in AZ is 2,493 ft. from housing. MEP will be greater than 5,280 feet away from nearest housing.
Myth. At the time when project sites were being evaluated, there was no available land at or near the County landfill site. The project inquired with the Mohave County Manager's office in February and May 2024 whether land was available for the project. The County confirmed that there was no land available. Additionally, at that time, the project team reached out to the Arizona State Land Department and Bureau of Land Management to inquire about land availability near the landfill. However, other developers had already filed applications for long term leases and special land use permits for projects on thousands of acres in the area and those applications were already under review, which made this land unavailable to AEPCO. In talks with natural gas providers, AEPCO was told it wasn't feasible to supply the gas to these properties.
Myth. MEC received approvals from the Board of Supervisors for this site ("Site A") and could start construction of the natural gas turbines up to August 31, 2025.
Myth. The site options were selected for their location to existing electrical infrastructure, water resources, natural gas infrastructure, while also being private, previously disturbed land available for purchase with the greatest distance from residences.
Fact. Based on input from the Board of Supervisors and the Community, the Mohave Valley site is preferred and still meets the needs of being near existing electrical infrastructure, water and natural gas resources, while providing a larger buffer to nearby residences versus the Fort Mohave site.
Fact. The approvals for the natural gas turbines are still in effect for the site off Antoinette Ave in Fort Mohave.
Fact. AEPCO purchased more property than was needed to support the footprint of the natural gas generating facility. AEPCO went before the Mohave County Board of Supervisors to rezone 193 acres to meet the needs of the proposed project.
Myth. Mohave Energy Park is a 4-unit, simple-cycle natural gas generating facility with supporting infrastructure. The facility provides a long-term plan for energy reliability and affordability by introducing natural gas generating resources near existing solar and battery storage resources in one regional area. The solar and battery storage resources are located in Fort Mohave, Arizona.
Fact. MEC forecasts a load growth that cannot be covered by existing energy sources, approximately 30 – 60 MW of dedicated power to avoid paying for this power in the open market. This affects reliability and affordability. Power purchased from the open market is more expensive.
Fact. Solar cannot produce power at night or when it rains. Essentially, solar has two costs – what it costs to build a solar field plus the cost to purchase power when there is no solar energy available for use.
Fact. The plans for solar, battery energy storage systems, and natural gas turbines were included in the 2017, 2020, and 2023 IRPs. The 2026 IRP will be completed in late 2026.
Fact. AEPCO follows the Arizona Administrative Code procurement methods approved by the ACC. AEPCO and MEC conducted multiple solicitations. The All-Source RFP was completed in 2023; the combination of solar, battery, and natural gas turbines were the most affordable option while providing the most reliable power supply. The first solar, battery storage, and LM6000 resources have already been built throughout AEPCO’s service territory.
Fact. MEC is short 30 MW of dedicated power which equates to approximately 9,500 homes and businesses being short of power. Also, MEC’s existing 30 MW of solar and battery does not provide sufficient power at night and during rainy weather, which adds another 9,500 homes and businesses that can only use “temporary power.” This situation could lead to an outage.
9,500 + 9,500 = 19,000 homes without power
The current energy markets cannot be relied upon for power supply or to be available at an affordable cost.
Myth. The generating facility is not being built to sell power to California; the facility will serve MEC and AEPCO. All power sales and transactions between or across electric utilities utilize a transaction tagging process regulated by federal agencies and reported to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to track the physical path of energy. They have trackable sales and can be audited to prove that power from Mohave Energy Park was sold to MEC.
The public has been involved since the beginning in this multi-year project. We have been sharing information with the community through townhalls, meetings, community events, advertisements, websites, and social media. In addition, the various permitting processes have included an opportunity for further public input.
Site preparation activities have begun at Mohave Energy Park. Construction of the new natural gas generating units will begin in late 2026.
Yes, the Mohave Energy Park will comply with all local, state, and federal air quality and environmental regulations that protect the health and wellbeing of the community. AEPCO is utilizing best in class turbine technology and will incorporate air emission controls, monitoring, and detection systems to ensure the health and safety of all.
The new natural gas turbines at Mohave Energy Park will comply with all local, state and federal air quality regulations, including requirements under the Clean Air Act. AEPCO has filed for a Class I Air Quality Permit, which will ensure that ongoing operations comply with these air quality standards. The final air quality permit will be a federally enforceable document containing applicable emission limits and standards that Mohave Energy Park is responsible for meeting, and will contain recordkeeping, monitoring and reporting conditions necessary to demonstrate compliance with all applicable requirements.
This process is designed to protect the public, including sensitive populations such as children and the elderly, from adverse health effects and to provide public welfare protection, including protection against decreased visibility and impacts to animals, crops, vegetation and buildings.
Completion of the Mohave Energy Park project has and will continue to afford short-term benefits to local labor force and also to the local economy. The local economy will benefit from an increased need for housing, food, and services to support the overall construction workforce.
The construction process will include local, cost-competitive vendors of commodities and rental equipment. Any employees traveling for construction purposes will boost local economies through their travel, lodging, and meals. The project is expected to introduce approximately $10 million in local economic lift during the construction phase.
Additionally, on a long-term basis, AEPCO expects to employ up to five full-time equivalent jobs to operate, secure, and maintain the facility.
The Mohave Energy Park represents a substantial investment in the Mohave area and will generate property taxes that are estimated to be nearly $5 million from 2025 through 2036.
AEPCO purchased the property and existing water rights from private land owners in January 2025.
Cooperatives are founded on seven principles including Concern for Community. Together, AEPCO and MEC, have been sharing information with the community through townhalls, meetings, community events, advertisements, websites, and social media. We welcome public feedback and input on this project.
The project location was selected not only to have access to MEC's electrical infrastructure, natural gas and water supply, proximity to existing solar fields, but also for its rural location with no residential structures being closer than a mile. The feasibility and cost of site construction were also taken into consideration to reduce the overall cost of the project and potential impacts to the nearby communities.
AEPCO is constructing natural gas turbines (LM6000s) at Mohave Energy Park, and each turbine is capable of generating up to 49 megawatts of electricity based upon the elevation of the project site. That maximum output can vary slightly during the year due to changes in temperature and humidity. Each natural gas turbine is also capable of ramping up from zero production to full production within 10 minutes. That means these turbines are extremely quick and flexible in responding to meet peak demand, or to respond in different system conditions, like cloudy days or extreme weather. These turbines, however, are not designed to run around-the-clock like larger steam generators or combined-cycle natural gas generators.
The energy produced will be used within our service territory and community. It will not be contracted for sale to other states.
AEPCO participated in an Energy and Environmental Economics (E3) study with other utilities to assess the resource adequacy situation in the Desert Southwest region now and in the future under various stress scenarios. The E3 study concluded that the Southwest is facing “a significant and urgent need” for new power resources due to growing demand for electricity. The need to build resources, such as the four natural gas generating units at Mohave Energy Park, is supported by the study to ensure continued reliability.
Supply chain disruptions and other issues are also contributing to energy constraints. The U.S. Department of Commerce investigation has shown negatively impacted solar panel supply chains, resulting in a substantial risk of delays and cost increases for new projects. Lithium costs are volatile, and the supply chain for batteries is also experiencing challenges, resulting in potential delays and higher costs.
AEPCO selected the LM6000 aero-derivative turbine technology for the Mohave Energy Park based on the following factors: cost, reliability, flexibility, minimal environmental impact, and operational experience.
The LM6000 turbines are flexible resources that allow the integration of more renewables into the power system and meet local electric capacity shortages. They can start up and change output quickly to support the variability of the system. In addition, the flexibility of this technology allows us to operate just one or both turbines when needed.
The LM6000 model is an industry leader in reliability with over 40 million operating hours and over 99% reliability. In addition, AEPCO has experience with the LM6000 technology, providing operational familiarity and common spare parts to reduce maintenance costs.
AEPCO and MEC must reliably meet near-term capacity needs, and the LM6000 turbines are available to provide power when needed, including during outages of other units, transmission line outages, or when limited-duration resources such as hydropower and battery resources are unavailable.
The project will utilize simple-cycle, aero-derivative natural gas turbine technology. It does not rely on steam to produce power, and does not require water cooling, so it uses significantly less water than other types of generation. In fact, the new natural gas turbines at Mohave Energy Park will require about 1% of the water used in traditional steam plant operations or about 7% of the water used in water-cooled combined-cycle natural gas plant operation. What water is consumed will be used primarily for emission controls.
The Mohave Energy Park sits amongst the foothills of Mohave Valley, adjacent to agricultural land. The new natural gas generating units will have stacks 65 feet tall. These stacks will be significantly lower than those on the local South Point Energy Center on Courtwright Road, which are 225 feet tall.
In 2024, one of AEPCO’s battery storage projects was completed in Fort Mohave. More battery storage projects are anticipated in the coming years.
While AEPCO and their Member Cooperatives, including MEC, have already added a significant amount of battery storage throughout the service territories, adding additional storage must be done strategically. Although battery storage helps to improve the performance of solar facilities by shifting some of the solar energy to hours when there is more demand for electricity, batteries are not a substitute for flexible natural gas turbines that can be tapped at any time. Natural gas turbines can vary output levels to meet any system condition, including emergencies and extreme weather.
When AEPCO considers investing in a new power generation resource, we carefully consider alternatives in the context of reliability. As a result, we are committed to incorporating battery storage safely and appropriately to help meet the energy needs of our members and community, while also incorporating new efficient natural gas turbines to diversify our power portfolio to improve reliability.
In evaluating options for the Mohave Energy Park, we used commercially available planning models to determine whether we could build the least-cost portfolio that could achieve the same reliability as the proposed natural gas units at the Mohave Energy Park. The results of the modeling indicated that the least-cost solution for meeting near and mid-term load growth and peaking needs was a combination of solar combined with natural gas turbines and potentially some additional battery storage installations in the future. A sole source of any one energy type is very costly.
Of the generation alternatives studied, the natural gas generating units provide the best option to provide the flexibility necessary to ensure reliable power delivery. Even when modeling other scenarios, including higher natural gas prices and lower battery costs, natural gas turbines were selected to meet the flexibility needs required to ensure reliability.
As a result, AEPCO’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan analysis demonstrates that installing natural gas generating units at Mohave Energy Park are the most prudent and practical decision, and it also is the best economic decision that provides the most value to Cooperative members.
Along with increased solar generation comes increased variability in power output, especially during cloudy conditions. The natural gas generating units at Mohave Energy Park will add quick-starting and fast-ramping power generation resources that can smooth out these fluctuations and ensure the delivery of consistent, reliable power to members.
Each gas turbine added as part of the Mohave Energy Park will be capable of rapid starts (within 10 minutes) and can quickly adjust to match changing electricity demand and intermittent renewable energy across the Mohave region.
The Member Cooperatives continue to see a strong member demand for electricity. The MEC service territory continues to see a population increase and is experiencing industrial and manufacturing growth from large companies establishing and expanding operations in the region.
This growth causes peak electricity demand to increase, resulting in the need for additional generating capacity to meet these needs. A combination of this growth and the region's overall resource constraints means that without proper planning and the development of new generating capacity, it will be a challenge for MEC to reliability meet the demand for electricity in the very near future.
AEPCO is responsible for developing new reliable generation resources to meet growing demand for electricity in the areas they serve. When deciding on the best plan to address this demand, AEPCO examined which generating resources could both meet increasing demand for electricity and would improve local reliability, especially to support critical public services. As a result of that review, the Cooperatives determined that installing efficient simple-cycle natural gas generating units in Mohave County was the best option to meet near and long-term demand in the region.
In addition, together with our renewable solar and battery energy storage projects located in Fort Mohave, the simple-cycle generating units at Mohave Energy Park will help transition the Cooperatives to a diversified energy portfolio, resulting in a more efficient, reliable and cost-effective mix of
generation resources.
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