SRP Summer Rates Start May 1, 2026: What Changes and How to Prepare

On May 1, 2026, SRP flips from winter to summer rate season. Unlike APS, SRP customers absorb a double rate hit: the on-peak energy rate jumps from $0.08 to $0.11/kWh (+38%), and the demand charge jumps from $10.50 to $14.50/kW (+38%) on the same day. Either one alone would matter; together they catch most SRP households off guard.

Full SRP Winter vs Summer Rate Comparison

Rates below reflect the SRP E-27 Customer Generation plan (the plan for solar and battery owners) and mirror the E-23 / EZ-3 energy structure for the 2–8 PM window. Other SRP plans (Basic E-21, the flat-rate Average Demand plan) handle seasonality differently — check your bill for your exact plan name and rate schedule.

Rates sourced from the 2026 SRP E-27 Customer Generation rate schedule. Rates as of April 2026 and subject to change; your bill may include riders and adjustments not shown above. See our full SRP TOU rates guide for the complete plan comparison.

Why SRP Is a Double Rate Hit, Not a Single One

APS customers saw a 60% peak rate jump on May 1, but it's strictly on energy — a clean $/kWh price change. SRP is structurally different. Your monthly bill has two usage-based line items, and both of them rise 38% on May 1:

• Energy charge — every kWh you burn between 2 and 8 PM weekdays now costs 38% more. This is intuitive: more usage = more cost.
• Demand charge — SRP looks at your highest 30-minute average kW draw during any on-peak window in the billing period, then multiplies it by the seasonal $/kW rate. Summer's $14.50/kW means a single 5 kW peak spike costs you $72.50 on that month's bill — regardless of how long it lasted. This is the line item SRP customers most frequently miss.

For a deeper dive into how the demand charge works and how it's calculated, see SRP demand charges explained.

What the Switch Actually Costs in Dollars

These examples isolate the winter-to-summer shift. Usage patterns are identical; only the rates change.

Example 1: Modest usage (10 kWh on-peak/weekday, 3 kW peak demand)

• Winter energy: 10 × $0.08 × 22 weekdays = $17.60/month
• Summer energy: 10 × $0.11 × 22 weekdays = $24.20/month
• Winter demand: 3 kW × $10.50 = $31.50/month
• Summer demand: 3 kW × $14.50 = $43.50/month
• Combined monthly difference: +$18.60

Example 2: Average AZ home (20 kWh on-peak/weekday, 5 kW peak demand)

• Winter energy: 20 × $0.08 × 22 = $35.20/month
• Summer energy: 20 × $0.11 × 22 = $48.40/month
• Winter demand: 5 kW × $10.50 = $52.50/month
• Summer demand: 5 kW × $14.50 = $72.50/month
• Combined monthly difference: +$33.20

Example 3: High-load home (40 kWh on-peak/weekday, 8 kW peak demand)

• Winter energy: 40 × $0.08 × 22 = $70.40/month
• Summer energy: 40 × $0.11 × 22 = $96.80/month
• Winter demand: 8 kW × $10.50 = $84/month
• Summer demand: 8 kW × $14.50 = $116/month
• Combined monthly difference: +$58.40

For your specific usage, run the numbers with our SRP bill calculator or see how your bill would compare on APS with the APS vs SRP side-by-side calculator.

Why SRP Rates Go Up in Summer

Arizona summer afternoons are the most punishing grid demand window in the country. When 1 million+ SRP homes simultaneously cool 110°F houses between 3 and 7 PM, SRP has to dispatch expensive peaker plants and buy emergency power on the wholesale market — both run 3–5x more expensive than the baseload generation that covers winter load. Summer peak rates pass that cost through to customers in the window when they're driving it. SRP's 2–8 PM window is longer than APS's 4–7 PM window precisely because SRP's service territory bakes longer into the evening.

7 Things to Do Before May 1 (SRP-Specific)

You have roughly two weeks. Ordered by dollars-saved-per-minute-spent. The top three are demand-charge plays — because demand is the most lopsided-leverage line item on an SRP bill.

1. Never stack big loads in the same 30-minute window

This is the #1 SRP summer play and it's free. Your demand charge is set by the single highest 30-minute average during any 2–8 PM window in the billing period. If your AC (5 kW) and dryer (4 kW) and pool pump (1.5 kW) all happen to run at the same time for 30 minutes on one afternoon, you just set a 10.5 kW peak that costs $152/month in summer demand charge — regardless of how you use electricity the other 29 days. Stagger big loads. Never run the dryer when the AC is cycling hard. Ever.

2. Pre-cool the house to 73–74°F before 2 PM

Pre-cooling accomplishes two things on SRP: it shifts energy use to cheap off-peak hours, and it lets the AC idle through the 2–8 PM window, which keeps your on-peak demand kW low. Run the numbers for your home in our AZ pre-cooling savings calculator. A smart thermostat that schedules by TOU period pays for itself in one summer on SRP — see our best smart thermostat for Arizona TOU rates guide.

3. Reprogram the pool pump to run outside 2–8 PM

A 1.5 HP pool pump pulling 1.5 kW during the SRP on-peak window hits your bill three ways: energy charge (6 hours × $0.11 = $0.99/day), contribution to demand charge (1.5 kW × $14.50 = $21.75/month), and compounding with your AC running simultaneously. Move it to run early morning or late evening. Same runtime, a fraction of the cost.

4. Move dishwasher and dryer cycles out of the peak window

A dryer run at 4 kW during on-peak contributes to both energy and demand. Shift dryer and dishwasher cycles to after 8 PM or to weekends (off-peak all day). The delay-start button on most appliances costs nothing to use and saves $15–25/month in summer.

5. Never charge an EV during 2–8 PM on weekdays

A Level 2 charger pulls 7–10 kW — enough to single-handedly set your monthly demand peak. A full 50 kWh Model 3 charge during SRP on-peak costs $5.50 in energy alone, plus the demand-charge damage from a 10 kW spike ($145 if that's your peak for the month). Schedule EV charging for late night or weekends. Our EV charging cost calculator shows the SRP numbers for your exact car and schedule.

6. Add window film to west-facing windows

Western exposures take the brunt of 3–7 PM sun in Arizona — right in the middle of SRP's 6-hour peak window. Reducing that heat load reduces both AC energy use and AC peak demand. Film is a one-time $15–30 fix per window that pays back in the first summer bill.

7. Find your hidden peak-hour energy drains

On SRP, a surprise load running during peak doesn't just cost energy. It can ratchet up demand. Arizona homeowners routinely find old AC units short-cycling, pool heaters left on, 3D printers, or server rooms running during the 2–8 PM window and setting their demand peak unnecessarily. An energy monitor on your breaker panel makes this obvious.

What the May 1 Switch Means for Batteries on SRP

A 13.5 kWh battery (Tesla Powerwall 3, EcoFlow DELTA Pro 3) charging off-peak and discharging during the 2–8 PM window earns:

• Winter: 13.5 × ($0.08 − $0.06) = $0.27/day energy arbitrage, plus demand-charge shaving (~$15–30/month if it flattens your AC-driven peak) = roughly $23–$40/month.
• Summer: 13.5 × ($0.11 − $0.07) = $0.54/day energy arbitrage, plus demand-charge shaving (~$30–60/month — the demand impact is larger because summer demand is $14.50/kW not $10.50/kW) = roughly $45–$80/month.

Summer battery ROI on SRP is nearly 2x winter ROI. And the demand-charge component is what separates SRP battery math from APS battery math. Run your numbers through our battery ROI calculator and Powerwall payback calculator. For solar customers, remember that SRP retired traditional net metering in 2025 — the export credit is roughly $0.035/kWh vs the $0.11 summer retail rate, which is exactly why self-consumption and batteries are the dominant solar strategy on SRP now.

What Doesn't Change on May 1

• On-peak hours stay 2–8 PM weekdays. The window doesn't shift. Only the energy rate and demand rate inside it change. See SRP peak hours schedule for the full 2026 window list.
• Weekends and SRP holidays stay off-peak all day. Big loads on Saturday and Sunday don't hit demand charge or on-peak energy.
• $32 monthly service charge is unchanged. The fixed portion of your bill is the same year-round.
• Export rates for existing solar customers. Your Customer Generation export rate applies year-round — May 1 doesn't touch it.

Bottom Line

May 1 is the most expensive date on the SRP calendar, and the damage compounds because both energy and demand jump 38% on the same day. Most SRP customers think of their bill as "kWh × rate" and don't fully account for demand, which is why summer SRP bills routinely surprise people by $50–$150 more than winter. The two-week runway before May 1 is enough time to set up pre-cooling, stagger big loads, reschedule the pool pump, and add $50–$100 of cheap summer-prep fixes. If you're considering a battery, the summer rate structure is exactly when the math works — see our best battery for Arizona 2026 comparison for the top picks.