Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) is on a mission to leverage clean energy to reduce costs and provide affordable, reliable services to customers across Arizona, California, and Nevada. As a not-for-profit organization, AEPCO turned to battery energy storage and Stem to enable this mission and as part of the greater transition to a clean energy future.   

Battery energy storage technology plays a crucial role for electric cooperatives as it is a very flexible asset that can not only be used to reduce cost during high peak times but also help to stabilize the grid as well as improve overall reliability, frequency regulation, voltage support, and fast response for participating in ancillary services. The timing for battery energy storage is right as funding opportunities such as the Inflation Reduction Act’s Direct Pay option, Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program, and New Empowering Rural America (ERA) funding as well as the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program.  

We invite you to join our energy experts as they discuss the blend of renewable and non-renewable energy that feeds the grid and what co-ops – like AEPCO – are successfully doing to integrate and fund more solar and storage to ultimately help their members lower electricity costs, increase energy savings, and improve reliability.   

Chris Jimenez, Director of Energy Services at Arizona G&T Cooperatives, provides insights into their strategy and clean energy journey, covering:  

• AEPCO’s clean energy mission and goals  
• Leveraging battery energy storage & solar to manage customer needs  
• Funding opportunities like Direct Pay, PACE, New ERA, and GRIP  
• Battery energy storage use cases for co-ops and their members