Arizona Utility Seeks Additional 20 Years for Palo Verde Nuclear Station

The nation’s largest nuclear power plant, which supplies more than 4 million people with energy each year, would extend operations into the 2060s.

Palo Verde Generating Station is the largest nuclear energy plant in the United States. Arizona Public Service

The Arizona Public Service (APS) utility company will seek to extend operations at all three units at the Palo Verde Generating Station—the nation’s largest nuclear power plant—through the mid-2060s.

The extension, which would be on top of a 20-year approval granted in 2011 and beginning in 2026, would add 20 additional years of nuclear energy generation at the plant, the company told federal regulators on March 13. If the application is approved, the facility, about 50 miles west of Phoenix, would be allowed to operate through 2067.