UniSource Energy Services performs system upgrades and maintenance all year long to keep our energy grid running reliably through the hot temperatures, powerful thunderstorms and high energy demands of summer.

In 2025 alone, UniSource invested more than $30 million in power lines, transformers, electric switches and other transmission and distribution equipment that we use to deliver service to customers every day.

“We know our communities always count on us for reliable service, but it’s especially true during the summer when customers typically use the most energy to run their air conditioners and stay cool in high temperatures,” said June Deering, Director of UniSource’s electric operations.

UniSource has recently completed and continues to work on upgrades that strengthen our energy systems, reducing the likelihood of outages caused by storm damage or other factors that challenge our energy systems during summer months.

In Lake Havasy City, we invested $3.1 million to install stronger, higher-capacity conductors connecting the Havasu and Mulberry substations that support more than 9,000 customers, providing system operators with greater flexibility to restore service if outages occur. Substations play a crucial role in powering homes and businesses by changing voltage to safe and appropriate levels.

We also invested $1.1 million to reconfigure our Palo Verde Substation, adding service capacity and improving reliability for systems that typically support about 8,400 customers.

In Kingman, we Invested about $12 million to build the new 69-kilovolt Cheyenne Substation in the fast-growing southeast area of town. The new substation will accommodate anticipated growth in the area while reducing strain placed on nearby substations.

Crews completed several other improvements including:

• Investing about $1.3 million to install stronger, higher-capacity conductors along a 1-mile stretch of Fairgrounds Boulevard, improving reliability and distribution service to area customers.
• Building a new $775,000, 1-mile line to connect the South Kingman Casson substations, which will help to reduce outages by allowing system operators to route power to area customers from multiple directions.
• Completing a $1.1 million reconfiguration of the Industrial Substation to add service capacity, improve reliability and provide system operators with greater flexibility.

In Santa Cruz County, crews are nearly finished with a $1.3 million upgrade of power lines that typically serve about 6,300 homes and businesses from the Sonita Substation in Rio Rico. The new higher-capacity lines are replacing equipment installed in the early 1970s. The project is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The company also invested more than $350,000 to replace poles, wires, crossarms and other equipment in the Flux Canyon area as part of the company’s wildfire mitigation efforts.

Investments in our local energy grid support UniSource’s efforts to maintain top-quartile reliability scores when compared to other energy providers across the nation. In 2025, a typical UniSource customer was without service for about 64 minutes. That compares to a nationwide average above 100 minutes, according to the Edison Electric Institute.