How do you lower your electric bill in Arizona? Start with three questions: how much electricity your home uses, when it uses it, and which rate plan you're on. That last one matters more in Arizona than in most states. Arizona Public Service (APS) and Salt River Project (SRP) both offer plans where the time of day changes what you pay.
So two homes using the same total kWh (kilowatt-hours, the unit on your bill) can get very different bills. And because AC is such a big load here, the house itself may be the main problem. Diagnose the bill before buying anything.
Step 1: Compare kWh Before Comparing Dollars
Pull your latest bill and the same month from last year. Then compare kWh used, not dollars. Say last July was 1,850 kWh and this July was 2,450 kWh. That's about a 32% jump in usage. Even if the rate hadn't changed, the bill would be much higher.
That points first to AC runtime, weather, the pool, EV charging or an equipment problem. If kWh stayed about the same, look instead at your rate plan, on-peak use, demand charges and price changes.
Compare kWh before you compare dollars. A higher bill can be a usage problem, a price problem or both.
Step 2: Know Your Utility and Your Plan
APS's current residential plans are:
- Fixed Energy Charge: the same energy price at any time of day.
- Time-of-Use 4–7 p.m. Weekdays: higher prices from 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays and lower prices the rest of the time.
- Time-of-Use with Demand Charge: lower energy prices, plus a demand charge (a fee based on your highest one-hour use during peak hours).
- EV Overnight 11 p.m.–5 a.m. Weekdays: a low overnight price for EV owners.
SRP's main residential plans are Basic, Conserve 6–9 p.m. and Save, Manage Demand 5–10 p.m. and Save, and M-Power prepaid service. You can't lower the bill smartly until you know which plan is producing it.
Step 3: Use APS's Plan Comparison
APS offers an online plan comparison based on your own past usage. It shows what your home would have paid on other eligible APS plans. Don't ask, “Which APS plan is cheapest?” Ask, “Which plan would have been cheapest for my house?”
The Fixed Energy Charge plan is the simplest option. It can suit households that can't shift their usage or have someone home all day. The trade-off is that you aren't rewarded for moving use to cheaper hours.
APS Time-of-Use Pays Off if You Can Avoid 4–7 p.m.
On APS's time-of-use plans, the peak runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays, all year. Weekends and holidays are off-peak. On the Time-of-Use 4–7 p.m. Weekdays plan, summer on-peak energy costs 34.396¢ per kWh, versus 12.345¢ off-peak. That's nearly three times as much.
So move flexible loads like laundry, the dishwasher, the pool pump, EV charging and water heating out of that window. From November through April, APS adds super off-peak pricing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays. The price is just 3.495¢ per kWh, a great time for those same flexible loads.
Step 4: Be Careful With APS Demand Charges
On APS's Time-of-Use with Demand Charge plan, the demand charge is based on your single highest on-peak hour of the month. In summer, it costs $19.585 per kW. So one bad hour can raise the whole month's bill.
Imagine running the central AC, oven, dryer, pool pump and EV charger all at 5:30 p.m. That one hour sets your demand. If it adds 4 kW to your peak, that's about $78 more in a summer month (4 × $19.585). The fix isn't to use no electricity. It's to avoid running every large load in the same hour. For example:
- Before 4 p.m.: run the pool pump.
- 4–7 p.m.: run only the AC.
- After 7 p.m.: run the dryer and dishwasher.
- Overnight: charge the EV.
Step 5: SRP Customers Should Compare Plans Too
SRP offers a Price Comparison tool that uses your home's actual usage. You need 12 calendar months at the home to use it. Generic advice like “just switch to time-of-use” isn't enough.
Testing a new plan is also low risk. Manage Demand comes with a 90-day guarantee. If your first three bills aren't lower, SRP credits the difference and switches you back. On Conserve, you can switch back within 90 days, but there's no stated bill credit.
SRP Conserve 6–9 p.m. and Save
This plan charges its highest prices from 6 to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Super off-peak runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day, which lines up well with Arizona's solar hours. The gap is biggest in July and August. SRP's standard on-peak price is then 40.20¢ per kWh, versus 6.61¢ super off-peak. That's about six times as much.
May–October 2026 bills were 0.38¢ per kWh lower under a temporary reduction. Standard prices return with November 2026 bills.
SRP Manage Demand 5–10 p.m. and Save
This plan's peak runs from 5 to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday. Super off-peak is again 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. It also has a demand charge based on the average of each day's highest on-peak hour. SRP's standard demand charges are $9.61 per kW in winter, $13.56 in summer and $17.78 in July and August.
Step 6: Pre-Cool the House
Arizona is a great place to pre-cool, which means cooling the house before peak pricing starts. On SRP's plans, set the thermostat about 3 degrees cooler before the peak. That's 3–6 p.m. on Conserve or 3–5 p.m. on Manage Demand. Then raise it about 2–3 degrees during peak hours. The house acts like a thermal battery.
APS customers on a 4–7 p.m. plan can do the same thing before 4 p.m. How well it works depends on insulation, windows and HVAC capacity. A poorly insulated house loses its stored cool quickly.
Step 7: Fix the Building Envelope
The AC is fighting the house. Common problems include thin attic insulation, air leaks, old windows, worn weatherstripping and leaky ducts. Fixing them can cut AC runtime, peak demand and total kWh all at once. SRP offers rebates of up to $600 for attic insulation and up to $400 for duct testing and repair.
Step 8: HVAC Is Usually the Biggest Lever
In Arizona, the AC can be the biggest load in the house for months. SRP estimates that a central AC unit draws about 3 kW, and a less efficient system can draw more. Small efficiency gains add up over thousands of hours a year.
Warning signs include an AC that runs nonstop or can't hold the set temperature, weak airflow and uneven rooms. A big jump from last summer's usage is another. So is equipment older than about 10–15 years. Before buying solar to cover a huge summer load, make sure that load is reasonable.
Check Utility Rebates Before Paying Full Price
SRP offers up to $1,125 toward qualifying efficient AC equipment, depending on the system type and size. The equipment needs a SEER2 rating (an efficiency score) of 15.2 or higher. SRP also offers up to $100 for a smart thermostat, plus rebates for heat pump water heaters and EV chargers. Its free home energy assessment comes with up to $250 in energy-saving products.
APS offers smart thermostat rebates of up to $85 per device through its online Marketplace. Cheap controls can sometimes save money before expensive equipment does.
Step 9: Schedule the Pool Pump and EV Charger
Pools, especially with an older single-speed pump, can use a lot of electricity. On a time-of-use plan, run it during APS off-peak hours or SRP super off-peak hours, not the evening peak.
EVs need the same care, since peak charging can raise energy and demand charges. APS's EV Overnight plan charges 8.468¢ per kWh from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays. SRP's 8 a.m.–3 p.m. super off-peak window works well too. Don't plug in at 5 p.m. just because you got home at 5 p.m. Schedule the charger.
Step 10: Consider Solar After Fixing Your Plan and Load
APS and SRP treat solar very differently. The key number is your export credit, which is what the utility pays for extra solar you send to the grid. New APS solar customers get a monthly bill credit for exports. For systems connected from September 1, 2026, the rate is 5.554¢ per kWh, locked for 10 years. SRP has several solar plans with different export credits and demand charges.
Using your own solar is usually worth more than exporting it. For example, SRP solar customers on Conserve or Manage Demand get 1.87¢ per kWh for exports, starting with the May 2026 billing cycle. That's well below even the cheapest grid price on those plans. So it pays to move the pool pump, EV charging, laundry and pre-cooling into solar hours.
Where Batteries Fit
Arizona rate plans give batteries real value. A battery can store midday solar that would otherwise export for a few cents per kWh. You then use it in the evening, when power costs the most. On a demand plan, it may also lower your demand charge, and it can provide outage backup. But it still has to justify its cost, financing, wear and energy losses. Do the math.
Solar Before HVAC Can Be Backwards
Picture an Arizona home using 28,000 kWh a year. Two aging AC units, weak insulation and leaky ducts are driving a lot of waste. A large solar system gets designed to offset all of it. After upgrades, though, use falls to 21,000 kWh.
That 7,000 kWh drop equals roughly 4 kW of Arizona solar. At about $2.50–$3.50 per watt, that's roughly $10,000–$15,000 of equipment the home no longer needs.
Step 11: Use Assistance if the Problem Is Affordability
If the real issue is “I can't afford this month's bill,” both utilities offer help:
- APS Energy Support Program: 25% off, up to $95 a month, or 60% off, up to $165 a month, depending on income. Households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level may qualify. Income guidelines were updated July 1, 2026.
- Other APS help: Crisis Bill Assistance of up to $1,000 a year, APS CARE of up to $500 with no income limit, and help with AC repairs.
- SRP Income-Qualified Discount: $35 a month for households at 0–150% of the federal poverty level, or $10 a month at 151–200%.
- SRP bill assistance: up to $800 for qualifying customers.
Arizona's LIHEAP energy assistance program may also help. Assistance helps with affordability, and efficiency helps with usage. Some households need both.
The Best Order to Lower an Arizona Electric Bill
- Compare kWh year over year.
- Identify your utility and rate plan.
- Run your utility's plan comparison.
- Diagnose HVAC, since Arizona AC loads are too big to ignore.
- Fix insulation and duct leaks.
- Shift flexible loads like the pool, EV, laundry and dishwasher.
- Manage peak demand, especially on demand plans.
- Consider solar once you know your efficient load.
- Evaluate a battery if peak prices, low export credits or backup needs justify it.
Same $400 Bill, Four Different Answers
- Home 1: On the wrong APS plan. Best first move: change plans.
- Home 2: Two old AC units and poor attic insulation. Best first move: HVAC and insulation.
- Home 3: An efficient, high-use home with a good roof and strong daytime use. Best first move may be solar.
- Home 4: Existing solar exports cheaply, and the family uses a lot of power at the evening peak. Best next move may be a battery plus load shifting.
The Ashborn Approach
Before recommending equipment, Ashborn Partners looks at your utility, rate plan, hourly usage and demand. We also review HVAC, insulation, your pool, EV charging, solar and battery options.
In Arizona, your bill isn't just about how much electricity you use. When you use it can matter just as much.
APS and SRP prices, rebates and assistance programs can change. SRP prices shown are standard prices; May–October 2026 SRP bills included a temporary 0.38¢/kWh reduction. Verify current plans, rebates and eligibility before making changes.