Company Profile
Electrical District No. 3
Company Overview
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 nonprofit utility with a seven (7) member Board of Directors and its purpose is to provide: a) affordable irrigation pumping to agricultural customers, and b) power at the lowest possible cost within sound business principles.
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 Statutes. ED3 is similar to Salt River Project (SRP) serving both rural and urban electric customer needs in western Pinal County.
Company History
The formation of the District was completed on January 5, 1926. The original boundaries comprised 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 138,448 acres, of which approximately 112,000 acres are now irrigable.
In 1989, Electrical District No. 1 of Pinal County (“ED1”) and ED3 consolidated their electric operations under ED3. In 2001, the ACC approved the sale of the “Split Ends” and the transfer of all customers within the District’s service area to ED3, expanding ED3’s service boundaries to include approximately 245,500 acres. ED3 now encompasses over 384 square miles and the 2010 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 areas 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.
In recent years, the District experienced substantial growth in the number of residential and commercial customers going from a few hundred meters in 2002 to over 25,717 meter connections in 2018. Between 2002 through 2008, significant population growth within the District’s territory brought many changes. The City of Maricopa incorporated and saw a population growth from about 1,000 to over 50,000. During the 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 area’s growth 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.
The Board of Directors establishes the policies for management and oversees the business affairs of the District, while the CEO / General Manager of the District has management responsibilities for the District. The CEO / General Manager directs a full-service utility with a staff of approximately 66, including field operations, engineering, customer service, finance and administrative personnel.