Tucson Electric Power maintains and strengthens our energy grid year-round to prepare for the challenges of summer, including high temperatures and powerful thunderstorms.

System inspections and upgrades continue throughout the year. In 2024 alone, TEP invested more than $250 million in power lines, transformers, electric switches and other transmission and distribution equipment that serves customers every day throughout our community.

“We work continually to make our grid as resilient as possible before the heat of summer arrives, when customers typically use more energy,” said David Wagner, Director of Line Construction and Metering. “We must prepare for thunderstorms, too. Last July, we saw one of the most destructive storms in decades. It damaged more than 70 poles and our crews responded to hundreds of damage reports around town.”

Recently completed and ongoing upgrades help TEP prepare for increasing customer energy needs and potential storm damage. These improvements include:

• Investing in new and upgraded distribution lines. TEP invested about $25 million last year in power lines and systems that deliver service to homes and businesses throughout our service area. This included nearly 20 conductor upgrades and voltage conversion projects, which help expand the capacity of equipment we use to deliver energy to customers.
• Making significant improvements in area substations. TEP invested about $16 million in the new Cottonwood Substation near Interstate 19 and West Ajo Way. We also invested about $4.9 million to improve the Irvington Substation near Interstate 10 and East Irvington Road and about $3.6 million to add a large transformer at TEP’s Pantano Substation.
• Replacing wood poles with stronger metal poles. Over the last five years, TEP has invested more than $4 million a year, on average, to replace older wood poles with steel poles. Crews are nearly finished with the replacement of more than 200 poles in the Wakefield Neighborhood, near South Sixth Avenue and Ajo Way.

For information about ongoing transmission, distribution and substation projects, visit tep.com/projects.

System upgrades also are among the measures we use year-round to reduce wildfire risks. Some of the measures we use to guard the grid from wildfire risks include regular inspection and vegetation management, designing fire-resistant transmission systems, emergency planning and situational awareness.