SRP customers planning to plant more trees as part of their New Year’s resolutions can take advantage of SRP’s Shade Tree Program, returning in 2025. This program offers up to two free shade trees per service address, with a selection of six desert-adapted varieties.
Customers interested in receiving free trees this year must attend an online workshop to learn how to plant and care for their new trees. After attending the workshop, customers can select up to two tree saplings, each 2-6 feet tall, at a drive-thru pick up event in March and April. The available varieties this year include Palo Verde, Native Mesquite, Thornless Mesquite, Willow Acacia, Desert Willow, and Lilac Chaste.
Fully grown shade trees can cool a home by filtering sunlight, and they can also reduce energy costs during the summer.
Registration is now open for the next series of virtual workshops.
- Thursday, January 16, 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
- Saturday, February 1, 10 – 11:15 a.m.
- Saturday, February 15, 10 – 11:15 a.m.
"Trees offer more than just shade. They cool our homes, improve air quality, and bring families and communities closer to nature," said Lori Gonzales, Senior Product Manager at SRP. "SRP is proud to partner with Trees Matter to provide thousands of free shade trees to families in Arizona every year."
In 2024, SRP distributed over 3,500 trees to more than 1,795 customers. More than 62,000 trees have been distributed through the program since it launched in 2012.
To learn more about the program and to sign up for a free workshop, visit here.
All workshops are available in English and Spanish.
To be eligible for the program, attendees must:
- Be a current residential SRP electric customer
- Attend the workshop
- Have the legal right to plant trees on their property
- Renters need to get verbal permission from their landlord
- Plant trees on the south, west or east sides of their home
- Plant trees approximately 15-20 feet from exposed exterior walls and windows
- Be able to care for the tree, as needed
- Have not previously received trees for their property from the SRP Shade Tree Program
Before planting a tree, residents are instructed to call Arizona 811 to find out where existing underground lines are located. One call to this free service notifies the appropriate local utilities, which send technicians to the requested site to mark the approximate location of existing underground lines.
