APS Upgrading Substation to Handle North Phoenix Growth
To handle the increase in residential and commercial customers in North Phoenix, APS is doubling capacity at an electrical substation along the Carefree Highway just off I-17 in Tramonto.
The Pioneer substation, as it’s called, is across the highway from Albertsons. Substations convert high-voltage electricity to lower voltage for local distribution. A new, higher-capacity transformer is being installed, said APS spokesperson Kendra Lee.
“This is to accommodate the growth that we have already happening,” Lee said. “We have long needed to upgrade the Pioneer substation” for reliability and capacity. It is slated to come online in June.
The substation will serve a broad area bound by 7th Street to the east, 51st Avenue (west), Joy Ranch Road (north), and Sonoran Desert Drive (south). Substations in the region are interconnected, however, so there is overlap with others in all those compass directions, Lee explained.
A new substation is under construction just south of Daisy Mountain Post Office on the east side of 43rd Avenue, to serve primarily the Anthem area. Slated for completion in May, it will work in concert with the Pioneer facility and others in the region. Yet another substation will likely be needed in the Norterra/Happy Valley Road area sometime in the next two to three years, Lee said.
