SRP Electricity Rates in 2026: What Are You Actually Paying in Arizona?

What are SRP electricity rates in 2026? There's no single answer. Salt River Project (SRP) offers several residential price plans: Basic, Conserve 6–9 p.m. and Save, Manage Demand 5–10 p.m. and Save, M-Power prepaid and a set of solar plans. What you pay per kWh (kilowatt-hour, the unit on your bill) depends on your plan, the season, the time of day and sometimes your demand.

So the more useful question is: which SRP price plan are you on, and does it fit how your home uses power? With SRP, when you use electricity can matter almost as much as how much you use.

What Changed With SRP Rates in November 2025?

SRP is a not-for-profit public power utility with an elected board, so the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) doesn't set its rates. SRP's board approved a price change that took effect with the November 2025 billing cycle. It raised prices about 2.4% systemwide.

For homes, SRP estimated an average increase of 3.5%, or about $5.61 a month at 1,117 kWh. The average was 3.4% for non-solar customers and 5.5% for solar customers. The same change added two new time-of-use (TOU) plans, where the price depends on the time of day: Conserve and Manage Demand.

SRP's Monthly Service Charge

Every plan has a fixed monthly service charge, based on your home's electrical service:

• $20 for most apartments, condos and townhomes
• $30 for a typical single-family home
• $40 for homes with service over 225 amps (about 3% of customers)

You pay it before a single kWh is counted. So a home paying 12.04¢/kWh isn't really paying just 12.04¢ for electricity.

SRP's Three Seasons

SRP prices change across three seasons. Winter is November through April. Summer is May, June, September and October. Summer peak is July and August, when prices are highest.

One billing detail surprises people. The price in effect on your meter-read date applies to the whole bill. So if a season changes partway through your billing period, SRP doesn't split your usage between the two prices. That alone can explain a sudden jump from one month to the next.

The Temporary 0.38¢ Price Cut for 2026

Natural gas and market power costs came in lower than expected. So SRP cut all energy prices by 0.38¢ per kWh for the May through October 2026 billing cycles. Standard prices return with the November 2026 billing cycle.

The prices in this article are SRP's standard prices. They don't include the temporary cut. On a May–October 2026 bill, subtract 0.38¢ from each energy price. For long-term planning, like solar or HVAC payback, use the standard prices.

SRP Basic Price Plan Rates

The Basic plan keeps things simple. The price per kWh doesn't change with the time of day, only with the season. SRP's standard Basic prices are:

• Winter: 10.97¢/kWh
• Summer: 12.04¢/kWh
• July–August: 13.98¢/kWh

With the temporary cut, May–October 2026 bills were 11.66¢ in summer and 13.60¢ in July and August. M-Power, SRP's prepaid plan, uses the same energy prices as Basic. The difference is that you buy power ahead of time instead of getting a monthly bill.

Example: 1,000 kWh on Basic in September

Take a typical single-family home on the $30 service charge. At the standard summer price, 1,000 kWh at 12.04¢ comes to $120.40. Add $30 and you get $150.40, or about 15.04¢ per kWh.

On a September 2026 bill, the temporary price is 11.66¢. That makes energy $116.60 and the subtotal $146.60, about 14.66¢ per kWh. Both numbers are before taxes and other account charges. Either way, the headline price and the real cost per kWh aren't the same thing.

Conserve 6–9 p.m. and Save

The Conserve plan rewards homes that can move power use out of the weekday evening peak. On-peak hours are 6–9 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. The super off-peak window is 8 a.m.–3 p.m. every day. All other hours are off-peak.

SRP's standard Conserve prices (on-peak / off-peak / super off-peak) are:

• Winter: 15.08¢ / 13.55¢ / 4.32¢
• Summer: 18.85¢ / 15.06¢ / 3.95¢
• July–August: 40.20¢ / 12.76¢ / 6.61¢

Is 40.20¢ per kWh Automatically Bad?

Not if you can stay out of it. In July and August, the 40.20¢ peak price is about six times the 6.61¢ super off-peak price. The plan is built for homes that run the EV charger, pool pump, laundry, dishwasher or battery charging outside 6–9 p.m.

The spread pays off in other months too. In September, moving a dishwasher load from 7 p.m. to noon drops its price from 18.85¢ to 3.95¢ at standard prices. A home that uses a lot of power from 6–9 p.m. may do worse on Conserve than on Basic.

Manage Demand 5–10 p.m. and Save

Manage Demand has lower energy prices plus a demand charge. On-peak is 5–10 p.m. on weekdays, and super off-peak is 8 a.m.–3 p.m. every day. SRP's standard prices (on-peak / off-peak / super off-peak) are:

• Winter: 11.19¢ / 9.94¢ / 4.38¢, plus $9.61 per kW
• Summer: 12.57¢ / 9.95¢ / 3.93¢, plus $13.56 per kW
• July–August: 16.54¢ / 9.96¢ / 6.22¢, plus $17.78 per kW

Those energy prices are well below Conserve's. The catch is demand.

How SRP's Demand Charge Works

Demand is how much power your home pulls at one time, measured in kW (kilowatts). SRP looks at your highest one-hour use during each day's on-peak hours. Your demand charge is based on the average of those daily highs.

That means you have to think about how much equipment runs at once. SRP estimates central AC at about 3 kW. Add a dryer, an oven, a pool pump and an EV charger at 6 p.m., and your demand climbs fast. Spread those loads out, and it stays lower. This plan can work very well for a home that manages its load, and poorly for one that doesn't.

Pre-Cooling Helps on Both Plans

SRP suggests cooling your home about 3 degrees cooler before peak. That's 3–6 p.m. on Conserve or 3–5 p.m. on Manage Demand. Then raise the thermostat 2–3 degrees during peak hours. Move EV charging, laundry, pool and dishwasher use into cheaper hours, too.

Pre-cooling works best in a home with good insulation, tight ducts and little air leakage. A leaky house loses the stored cooling quickly. AC is the hardest load to shift on a July evening, which is why an efficient system matters so much in SRP territory.

Which SRP Plan Is Best?

There's no universal answer, but here's a starting point:

• Basic may fit if you don't want to manage timing, use a lot of power in the evening or just value simplicity.
• Conserve may fit if you can avoid 6–9 p.m. on weekdays, your EV and appliances are flexible and you'd rather not have a demand charge.
• Manage Demand may fit if you can avoid running big loads at the same time and move usage into 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Work-from-home households, retirees and homes with programmable EV chargers often have the most flexibility.

Try Before You Commit

SRP's Price Comparison tool shows what your own usage would cost on each plan. It needs 12 months of history at your home. Base your choice on real usage, not guesses.

SRP also lowers the risk of switching. On Manage Demand, 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. A better plan can sometimes save money before you buy any equipment.

Some Older SRP Plans Are Frozen

Since the November 2025 billing cycle, new customers can't join several older plans. These are EZ-3 (E-21 and E-22), Time-of-Use (E-26) and the older EV plan (E-29). All of them end by the November 2029 billing cycle. If you're on one now, don't assume you can leave and come back later. And watch out for old online advice about plans you can no longer join.

What About SRP Solar Rates?

Solar customers have their own options. Customer Generation (E-27) and Average Demand (E-15) have demand charges. They net your solar within the month and credit any leftover at the plan's retail price. Time-of-Use Export (E-13) and EV Export (E-14) have no demand charge. Extra solar earns a fixed 3.45¢/kWh export credit (what SRP pays for solar you send to the grid). These four solar plans close with the November 2029 billing cycle.

Solar customers can also choose Conserve or Manage Demand. On those plans, exports earn 1.87¢/kWh starting with the May 2026 billing cycle, and SRP recalculates that rate every May. If you export a kWh for 1.87¢ and buy one back later for 12–18¢ or more, the trade isn't even. So a good SRP solar design matches production to daytime AC, pool, EV and battery use, not just annual output.

Where Battery Storage Fits

A battery can store low-value midday solar and use it during the evening peak. It can also help limit demand and keep power on during an outage. That's worth a look when exports earn only 1.87¢ or 3.45¢ and evening power costs much more. But a battery still has to cover its cost, efficiency losses, wear and financing. The rate plan creates an opportunity, not a guaranteed return.

Compare kWh Before Comparing Bills

Suppose last August you used 1,600 kWh and paid $225. This August you used 2,300 kWh and paid $340. It's easy to blame SRP, but your usage rose about 44%. The first place to look is probably the air conditioner.

An inefficient AC can cost more than any price change. If a failing system adds 500 extra kWh a month, that's about $70 a month at the standard 13.98¢ July–August Basic price. That's far more than the average $5.61 increase from the 2025 price change.

Four Homes, the Same $300 Bill, Different Answers

• Home A: An old AC is driving very high summer usage. Best first move: HVAC.
• Home B: An efficient home, but most appliances run from 6–9 p.m. Best first move: compare Conserve and shift loads.
• Home C: A Manage Demand customer running the EV, dryer and AC together at 6 p.m. Best first move: manage demand.
• Home D: Existing solar exporting at 1.87¢ while buying lots of evening power. Best next move may be a battery or load shifting.

The Best Order for an SRP Customer

1. Identify your price plan, including any frozen or solar plan.
2. Check your service-charge tier of $20, $30 or $40.
3. Compare seasonal and yearly kWh to see whether the home uses too much.
4. Review peak-hour use, especially 6–9 p.m. on Conserve or 5–10 p.m. on Manage Demand.
5. Review demand if your plan has a demand charge.
6. Diagnose HVAC, insulation and ducts.
7. Evaluate solar using your actual SRP plan, not a generic net-metering number.
8. Evaluate a battery separately for export value, demand and backup.

The Ashborn Approach

Before recommending any equipment, Ashborn Partners looks at your SRP price plan, service-charge tier, seasonal and hourly usage and demand. We also review your HVAC, insulation, pool and EV loads, then your solar plan, export credits and battery options. Sometimes the best move is changing plans or shifting usage. When an upgrade makes sense, we connect you with participating providers in your area.

With SRP, how much you use matters. When you use it can matter just as much.

SRP prices shown are standard prices that took effect with the November 2025 billing cycle. May–October 2026 bills included a temporary 0.38¢/kWh reduction, with standard prices returning with November 2026 bills. Prices and plans can change.