Arizona public power utility Page Utility Enterprises is building a new 15 MVA transformer designed to enhance grid reliability and accommodate load growth that is scheduled for completion in November 2026.
PUE general manager Bryan Hill noted that the new transformer will be replacing a unit that was installed decades prior, with its value in enhanced transmission capacity well outpacing the cost of the upgrade.
“The transformer that has been in service since the late 1950s was a 7.5 MVA unit, and it worked its heart out for decades. Just through economies of scale, we replaced it with a 15 MVA transformer that doubled the capacity for pennies on the dollar,” Hill said.
As is widespread across public power communities, load growth has driven the city to build out its transmission capacity and grid reliability. However, in Page’s case this has emerged not from data centers or population growth, but the success of its tourist industry.
“While our population hasn’t grown much since the old unit was installed, our tourism sure has. In 2023, we hosted nearly 5 million visitors here in Page,” Hill said.
While some of Page’s tourism comes from U.S. visitors, the town has received a growing number of international tourists who visit the area during their summer vacations, drawn in large part by natural attractions like the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and Zion National Park.
This transformation has turned PUE from a winter to dual peaking utility, as summertime visitors have markedly increased the town’s May-August electricity consumption.
“Before the 1990s, Page was a winter peaking town. Due to hotels and air conditioners, we now consume just as much electricity in the summer as we do in the winter,” Hill said.
The area’s tourism boom has been well received by PUE’s commercial customers, who depend on reliable power to keep restaurants, hotels, and shops running during the summer season.
This has rendered investment in the new transformer a simultaneous investment in the town’s ongoing prosperity, with the public power utility seeing the new 15 MVA unit as a means of getting ahead of load growth could have stressed the prior 7.5 MVA transformer.
“Do we need all that capacity today? No, but as utility professionals we try to think decades into the future,” Hill said.
Even though Page’s tourism industry has proven a recent boon for the town and drawn new commercial development, Hill sees PUE’s core mission as remaining unchanged.
“Electricity is a fundamental building block of everything we do in a developed economy. Whether it’s manufacturing or tourism, it all requires that essential supply of energy to produce. And it's our mission to keep it plentiful and affordable,” Hill said.
