Electrical District No. 3 is committed to providing quality service, competitive power rates, sound business practices and a safe distribution system to the communities we serve.

Electrical District No. 3 of Pinal County (“ED3” or “District”) is a political subdivision of the State of Arizona formed in 1926 as a Special District by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors. ED3 is a cost- based (not-for-profit) utility with a seven (7) member Board of Directors and its purpose is to:

a) provide power at the lowest possible cost within sound business principles and b) provide affordable irrigation pumping to agricultural customers.

ED3 is a full-service utility providing electric services to residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial users and is responsible for power purchase, construction, operations and maintenance of their electrical system. The District currently serves over 30,000 meters and 65,000 irrigable acres.

ED3 is organized with the authority, rights, and privileges to distribute electrical power and energy to all within its service area pursuant to what is now Chapter 12 of Title 48 of the Arizona Revised Statute.

The District is divided into seven (7) Divisions which are governed by a Director elected by the landowners owning at least one-tenth (0.10) acres within the Division’s Boundary. Directors serve on the Board for a three (3) year term with staggered term expiration dates. Per ARS § 48-1742 (A) elections are held on the second Saturday in January annually for the Division(s) in which the term of office is expiring.

The Board establishes the policies for management and oversees the business affairs of the District, while the General Manager of the District has management responsibilities for the District. The General Manager directs a full-service utility with a staff of approximately 120, including field operations, engineering, customer service, finance, and administrative personnel.

The District owns and operates 1,700 miles of distribution lines. The District also owns and operates twelve 69 kV to 12 kV substations, the Maricopa Receiving Substation, and a site for construction of a future substation at Pinal West.

The District purchases power from the Arizona Power Authority (Hoover Power), Western Area Power Authority (WAPA - Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects “SLCA / IP” and Parker Davis Power), other energy marketing firms, and from projects through the Southwest Public Power Agency (SPPA).  The District’s long-term power supply contract with Onward Energy (Mesquite Power Plant) is part of the SPPA Pooling project. In 2024, the District became a member of WSPP, Inc., an organization of electric wholesale market entities. The District is a participant in the Hoover Power Resource Exchange Program and a party to an Integrated Resource Scheduling Agreement which permits the District and other similarly situated utilities to integrate and exchange Hoover, SLCA / IP, and Parker Davis power resources. In addition, the District has a long-term power purchase agreement for power from the Mesquite Natural Gas generating station located in Arlington, Arizona operated by SRP and owned by Onward Energy. In 2022, the District announced its participation in the BrightNight Box Canyon Solar project which has an in-service commercial operations date in 2025. The project represents the first utility-scale solar project in our power supply portfolio. The utility-scale solar project is located in Pinal County, Arizona near the SRP Abel Substation.  In early 2024, ED3 announced that it has selected the Apache Solar II project located at the Apache Generating Station in Cochise County, Arizona as an addition to its power supply portfolio. ED3 will receive approximately 38 MW of solar and 38 MW of 4-hour battery energy storage under a long-term purchase power agreement. The Apache Solar project is anticipated to have a commercial operations date in winter of 2025/2026 pending meeting certain milestone achievements. The project is in concert with other public power and electrical cooperatives and is the first utility-scale battery project for ED3 to increase flexibility for peaking and power delivery requirements. The Box Canyon Solar and Apache Solar II projects will help ED3 meets its 100 x 100 goal of having 100 MW of new renewable resources in our power supply portfolio by our 100^th Anniversary year in 2026.

Detailed below are the District’s current contractual commitments:

1. Hoover A Capacity and Energy (Contingent Resource)
2. Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects / Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) Power (Firm Resource with Firming)
3. Parker-Davis Project (Firm Power)
4. Public Service Company of Colorado (Firm Capacity and Energy)
5. Mesquite Generating Station (Firm Capacity and Energy)
6. Box Canyon Solar
7. Apache Solar II (tentative date of winter 2025/2026)

The formation of the District was completed on January 5, 1926, with the original boundaries comprising approximately 87,000 acres. The area of the District was increased in 1948, when the Board of Directors completed the steps as prescribed by law to annex certain contiguous lands, to approximately 112,000 irrigable acres.

In 1960, the District entered into an agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS) to purchase certain APS-owned electrical facilities located within the ED3 boundaries which were used primarily for rendering electric service for irrigation pumping and small family farms within the District. Simultaneously, an agreement was entered into between ED3 and APS under which ED3 would lease back to APS the acquired properties for operation by APS as the agent for the District. Since 1961, ED3 has owned the transmission and distribution system located within its service area. In 1989, Electrical District No. 1 of Pinal County (“ED1”) and ED3 consolidated their electric operations under ED3.

In 2001, the District terminated the lease back agreement with APS and in March of 2002, the District and APS entered into an agreement under which the District planned to purchase the Sexton Substation and the 69 kV line running from the Sexton Substation and the APS-owned extensions of its distribution facilities fed from the District’s facilities (“Split Ends”). In addition to these facilities within the District boundaries, APS and the District reached an agreement in 2006 to expand the District’s electric service territory to serve the additional Split Ends customers.

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved the sale of the “Split Ends” and the transfer of all customers within the District's service area to ED3 in May 2010, expanding ED3’s service boundaries to include approximately 245,500 acres and currently encompass over 384 square miles and includes the City of Maricopa and the Town of Stanfield. This consolidation left ED3 as the sole provider within its service territory and relieved inefficiencies and duplication of facilities and services.

The general area of the District’s service territory is south of the Gila River Indian Community, north of the Tohono Indian Community, east of the Pinal-Maricopa County line and west of the City of Casa Grande. The City of Maricopa and the unincorporated area of the Town of Stanfield are included in the District’s boundaries. The Ak-Chin Indian Reservation is not part of the District; however, the District provides transmission, as well as, operations and maintenance services to the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation. During 2018-2020, the District started to provide customer service and billing services to several other small public power utilities.

The District experienced substantial growth in the number of its residential and commercial customers between 2002 through 2008. During that time, the City of Maricopa incorporated and saw a population growth from about 1,000 to over 51,000. During this major growth period, ED3 doubled its substations, added a 69 kV sub-transmission loop, and several hundred miles of both underground and overhead distribution lines to provide the infrastructure to support the growth within its service territory and add reliability to the District’s transmission system. The District enhanced its Customer Service Department during this time by adding staff, online services, and a range of billing and payment choices.

To finance the expansion, the District was able to issue tax-exempt bonds on several occasions. These investments supported the major commercial, retail, and residential development, and will provide ample capacity for continuing growth. In 2023, the Districts bonds were reaffirmed A+ Stable by S&P Global.

The District has over 34,000 meter connections as of early 2024. The current population of the City of Maricopa is approximately 75,000.