Power on! With three pressurized reactors, Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear energy facility in the United States. U.S. power plants have no more than three reactors, although some foreign plants have more than four. Located 50 miles west of Phoenix near Wintersburg, the plant has provided energy for more than twenty years.

Construction of the plant began in 1976. Palo Verde is the only nuclear facility not adjacent to a large body of water. Instead, the plant uses reclaimed wastewater and de-mineralized and de-ionized well water to meet its cooling needs. The three pressurized water reactors generate 4,000 megawatts for some 4 million inhabitants of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. Primarily owned by Arizona Public Service Company, scandal erupted when press reports revealed that APS affiliate and Pinnacle West owner Keith Turley bought the 4,050 acres of land from his brother-in-law.

In 2008 the operating cost to produce 1 megawatt of electricity at Palo Verde was 1.33 cents, 50 percent of average energy cost in the U.S. southwest, cheaper than both coal and gas fired electricity - and cleaner than both. The Arizona division of Emergency Management and Maricopa County maintain a joint Offsite Emergency Response Plan for the Palo Verde to ensure a synchronized response to protect the public from radiation exposure in the event of an incident. Today, security is a vital concern in light of terrorist of attacks. National Guard troops were sent to the plant in 2003 when government officials suspected a threat. Also, in 2007 a pipe bomb was found in the truck of a contract worker when security staffers stopped him at an entrance. With precautions in place, the plant has safely provided cheap carbon-free energy for millions of people in the Southwest.