Arizona Public Service (APS) said it is taking part in the western regional Energy Imbalance Market (EIM), which will save its customers money.

The EIM enables companies to buy and sell power in increments of as little as five minutes, allowing efficiencies that are not possible with traditional hour-ahead trading. APS expects this difference could save customers $7 million to $18 million a year.

“Participating in a market that enables APS to buy and sell power closer to when electricity is consumed will result in meaningful economic savings to customers through lower production costs and better integration of renewable resources like solar,” APS Vice President of Resource Management Tammy McLeod said. “We are always looking for ways to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively and we believe the EIM provides us that opportunity."

“Any proven technology that allows us to be innovative and flexible in the way we power our customers’ lives – while cutting costs – is important to Arizona’s energy future," McLeod said. "Our decision to participate in the EIM is another example of how we’re providing our customers with a cleaner, stronger and smarter system to meet their changing energy needs.”

The California Independent System Operator and PacifiCorp launched the regional EIM in 2014. Since then participating companies have realized combined savings of more than $88 million.