Arizona Industrial Real Estate: Power Is the New Water
For years, water usage and rights flooded the headlines in Arizona industrial real estate. Every institutional investor, every advanced manufacturer scoping Arizona sites, and every data center developer had the same first question: Is there water?
The Arizona Department of Water Resources’ ADAWS designation confirmed long-term water certainty for the Sun Corridor’s fastest-growing industrial market.
The next question—does the site have power— is not so settled. Our Phoenix CRE advisory team is here today to help provide further insight.
Arizona’s Next Infrastructure Bottleneck
Developers and Arizona industrial real estate site selectors who treated water as the last checkbox are now staring at something much harder to solve: commercial electrical infrastructure that Phoenix cannot build fast enough to meet current demand.
APS currently carries more than 20 GW of uncommitted large-load requests in its interconnection queue — layered on top of the 4.5 GW it has already contracted. SRP, for its part, is on a path to double its total generation capacity over the next decade just to keep pace. Neither number is a forecast. Both reflect what is happening right now.
Between 2023 and 2025, data centers drove 94% of all new energy demand growth on the APS system. Put plainly: the grid is not waiting on your project. Your project is waiting on the grid.
All that said, if you are searching for industrial land in Phoenix and power is a major requirement, you need to find out what the utility situation is at that specific site before you do anything else.
APS vs. SRP: Which Utility Serves Your Arizona Industrial Real Estate Site
Service territory boundaries are your starting point. Substation capacity at the specific parcel is your deal-maker.
| Factor | APS (Arizona Public Service) | SRP (Salt River Project) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Service Area | West Valley, North Valley, Pinal County | East Valley: Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek |
| Key Industrial Markets | Goodyear, Buckeye, Peoria, Pinal Corridor | Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, East Mesa |
| Committed Large Load | 4.7 GW contracted — next 10 years | 59 large-load customers / ~7,000 MW |
| Pending Queue | 20+ GW uncommitted requests | All-Source RFP: 2,900 MW new gen sought in 2026 |
| Best Fit For | Data centers, advanced mfg, logistics — West Valley & Pinal | Semiconductor supply chain, TSMC-adjacent mfg — East Valley |
| Expansion Commitment | $5.3B Permian gas pipeline (online 2029) | Plan to double generation capacity by 2034 |
APS and SRP Service Areas
APS covers the West Valley, North Valley, and most of Pinal County. SRP picks up the East Valley—Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe—and runs into parts of Queen Creek and the Southeast Valley.
Where to Find Arizona’s Power-Ready Industrial Sites
Industrial CRE buyers are no longer picking sites based on price per square foot.
The questions coming in upfront now are more specific: Does the site have a utility service agreement in place? How close is the nearest substation? Where does the property stand in the interconnection queue?
Plug-and-play industrial parcels that Arizona developers and tenants want are rarely advertised as such. Here is what separates the sites worth pursuing from the ones that will stall your timeline:
Contact Us
- Utility service agreement in place. A confirmed agreement with APS or SRP removes the single biggest variable from your build schedule. Without one, you are starting the clock from zero.
- Substation proximity. Sites adjacent to or near existing high-capacity substations avoid the cost and delay of new infrastructure builds. That advantage shows up in both closing speed and price.
- Pre-application findings. A favorable utility pre-application tells you the site is viable before you are deep into due diligence. It is an early filter that saves time and money.
At Rowe and Associates, these are opening questions, not late-stage ones. Our broker, Sam Rowe, knows which parcels have confirmed utility access, which are in queue, and which are still awaiting grid approval.
Arizona Industrial Real Estate Power Capacity FAQs
It is actively developing. Real infrastructure is moving. SRP’s Coolidge Generating Station expansion is adding 575 MW of new generation capacity, with the first phase coming online in the summer of 2026. APS is constructing a new transmission line connecting the Merrill and Coolidge substations, with work beginning in Fall 2026.
For tenants willing to commit early, Pinal County offers an attractive mix of land cost, water certainty, and accelerating power infrastructure within the Sun Corridor.
• Confirmed utility service already in place
• Existing high-voltage transmission access on or adjacent to the site
• Substation capacity that fits your build schedule
• A site plan that does not require new substation construction from the ground up
Ready to Find an Arizona Industrial Real Estate Site That Has Power Confirmed?
Rowe and Associates has 41 years of experience in Arizona commercial real estate. We know which parcels have confirmed electrical infrastructure, which are sitting in the utility queue, and which are waiting for the grid to catch up. We know the difference matters more today than ever.
If power capacity is part of your criteria for Arizona industrial real estate, we should talk. Call us at (480) 933-0004, or contact us online to start your site search today.