Under the tolling agreement, Arizona Public Service (APS) can charge and discharge the system for energy as needed. In return, Strata will ensure the system’s capacity, reliability and efficiency.
Strata entered a similar agreement with APS last year for a 100 MW, 400 MWh battery energy storage project in Maricopa County, Arizona, as well as for the 255 MW, 1 GWh Scatter Wash battery storage project, both of which were through 20-year tolling agreements.
Under the tolling agreement, APS can charge and discharge the system for energy as needed. In return, Strata will ensure the system’s capacity, reliability and efficiency through the agreement.
Tolling agreements provide investors with risk management due to their predictable revenue streams, financial security and more sophisticated market participation by transferring control to the trading specialists. For battery storage operators, tolling agreements are a faster route to market and require lower upfront capital.
Tolling agreements are similar to power purchase agreements in their ability to simplify financing and provide asset owners with predictable, guaranteed revenue streams. However, unlike power purchase agreements, tolling agreements completely separate asset ownership from operational control.
Brian Cole, APS vice president of Resource Management, said Justice Energy Storage will benefit customers during some of the hottest parts of the day when they need electricity the most.
Set to be completed in April 2026, Justice Energy Storage is among the projects APS awarded after conducting a request for proposal in 2023 to procure about 1 GW of resources, 700 MW of which for renewable energy.
Strata Clean Energy and its affiliates are a vertically integrated company specializing in: solar and storage development; engineering, procurement and construction; and operations and maintenance. According to Strata, the company has over 170 projects in operation, more than 8 GW of solar and 31 GWh of storage in development, and 4.2 GW under management nationwide.
