Does Arizona tax charging equipment as property?

Effectively not for most sites. Arizona exempts up to $500,000 of business personal property per taxpayer (2026) and values post-2021 equipment at a flat 2.5% of cost, so fast-charging hardware largely escapes the tax. The model sets the business-personal-property line to effectively zero for Arizona.

Which Arizona utilities does the model cover?

APS in greater Phoenix (Schedule E-32 L) and TEP in greater Tucson (TILGS). Salt River Project, which serves much of the East Valley, sets its own rates outside Commission regulation and is not in the tariff library — an SRP-territory address resolves to a named banner, not an auto-selected rate.

Are Arizona's rates about to change?

Both APS and TEP are before the Corporation Commission with rate cases requesting mid-teens increases, and both propose annual formula-rate adjustments. Orders are expected to change filed rates around early 2027; the modeled rates carry a re-derive note.

ForgeAsset / Supercharger ROI / Arizona

Tesla Supercharger ROI in Arizona

Arizona pairs some of the heaviest demand charges in the library with one of its lightest equipment taxes, across two investor-owned utilities that are both mid-rate-case right now. ForgeAsset models APS Schedule E-32 L (Phoenix) and TEP TILGS (Tucson) against Arizona's tax stack, with the state transaction privilege tax folded into the rates.

Model a Arizona site

What makes Arizona economics distinct

Near-zero tax on new equipment

Arizona exempts up to $500,000 of business personal property per taxpayer (effective 2026), and equipment first classified in 2022 or later is valued at a flat 2.5% of acquisition cost rather than a declining schedule. Together, most fast-charging hardware effectively escapes business personal property tax — a quantifiable, legislatively explicit capex advantage rather than an artifact of assessment practice.

Two utilities, two live rate cases

APS (Phoenix) and TEP (Tucson) are both before the Corporation Commission requesting increases in the mid-teens, with orders expected to reshape rates around early 2027. Both are also pursuing a formula-rate mechanism that would let them adjust rates annually without a full case. The modeled rates carry a re-derive note tied to those orders.

Heavy demand charges, with an escape hatch

The modeled APS and TEP schedules carry some of the heaviest demand charges in the library (shown in the rate table below). Both utilities also filed EV-specific structures the model omits: APS's rider caps billed demand at a load-factor ceiling that tightens over the pilot's life, and TEP's stand-alone EV rate replaces the per-kW demand charge with a declining energy-block price. The modeled demand cost is conservative relative to those options.

Two metros, and a coverage gap

APS serves greater Phoenix and TEP greater Tucson, both Commission-regulated. Salt River Project, which serves much of the East Valley (Tempe, Mesa, Chandler), sets its own rates outside Commission jurisdiction and is not in the modeled library — so a site in SRP territory falls outside both schedules and resolves to a named-utility banner rather than an auto-selected rate.

Utilities and tariffs modeled in Arizona

Utility & tariff	Energy	Demand
APS E-32 L	6.9¢/kWh flat	$22.19/kW of monthly peak
TEP TILGS	7.6¢/kWh flat	$23.14/kW of monthly peak

Rates are digit-verified against each utility's own filed sheets and update within two weeks of any revision. Full derivations are on the methodology page.

Arizona tax profile

Sales tax on hardware: 8.6%
Business personal property tax: none
Clean-fuels credit: no program
Per-kWh charging excise: none

Arizona tax defaults applied: no clean-fuels credit program exists in Arizona (the LCFS revenue line is $0), Arizona levies no LLC annual fee or franchise tax, business personal property tax on newly acquired equipment is effectively zero under the current valuation factor and exemption, and the sales-tax default uses a Phoenix retail example — contract structure and city rates vary and the field is editable. City transaction privilege taxes on electricity (Phoenix roughly +3.4 points, Tucson roughly +8.1 points) are not included in the tariff rates. Both Arizona utilities have pending rate cases; filed rates may change around late 2026.

Arizona programs and incentives

APS Rider DCFC (not modeled)

An EV rider that caps billed demand at a load-factor ceiling, tightening from 25% toward 15% over the pilot and sunsetting after mid-2031, capped at 500 accounts statewide. The model does not apply it, so the modeled demand cost is conservative.

TEP DCFCX stand-alone EV rate (not modeled)

A Tucson EV rate with no per-kW demand charge — demand cost is embedded in a declining energy-block price instead. A Tucson fast-charging site could elect it over the modeled TILGS schedule.

NEVI (federal, ADOT-administered)

Roughly $76.5 million over five years funding up to about 70 stations along I-10, I-8, I-40, I-17, and I-19; each carries at least four 150 kW connectors supporting both NACS and CCS.

Arizona charging market

Arizona carries roughly 63 Supercharger stations across the Phoenix and Tucson metros and the I-10, I-17, and I-40 corridors. Its economics pair heavy demand charges with a near-zero equipment tax, and both utilities are mid-rate-case, so filed rates carry a short shelf life.

Arizona Supercharger ROI — questions

Does Arizona tax charging equipment as property?: Effectively not for most sites. Arizona exempts up to $500,000 of business personal property per taxpayer (2026) and values post-2021 equipment at a flat 2.5% of cost, so fast-charging hardware largely escapes the tax. The model sets the business-personal-property line to effectively zero for Arizona.
Which Arizona utilities does the model cover?: APS in greater Phoenix (Schedule E-32 L) and TEP in greater Tucson (TILGS). Salt River Project, which serves much of the East Valley, sets its own rates outside Commission regulation and is not in the tariff library — an SRP-territory address resolves to a named banner, not an auto-selected rate.
Are Arizona's rates about to change?: Both APS and TEP are before the Corporation Commission with rate cases requesting mid-teens increases, and both propose annual formula-rate adjustments. Orders are expected to change filed rates around early 2027; the modeled rates carry a re-derive note.

Sources

Model a Tesla V4 Supercharger site in Arizona — payback, NPV, IRR, and a 15-year cash flow from your own inputs.

Run a Arizona scenario

Other states: California, North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee. Coverage spans twelve states in total — see the full list.

ForgeAsset is software, not investment, tax, or legal advice — outputs are model estimates from your inputs, not guarantees. Rates and programs current as of research; verify current terms with each source before committing capital.