The Palo Verde Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Tonopah, Arizona about 45 miles (72 km) west of downtown Phoenix. Palo Verde generates the most electricity of any power plant in the United States per year, and is the largest power plant by net generation as of 2021. Palo Verde has the third-highest rated capacity of any U.S power plant. It is a critical asset to the Southwest, generating approximately 32 million megawatt-hours annually.

Its average electric power production is about 3.3 gigawatts (GW), serving about four million people. Arizona Public Service (APS) owns 29.1% of, and operates the plant. Its other owners are the Salt River Project (20.2%), the El Paso Electric Company (15.8%), Southern California Edison (15.8%), PNM Resources (7.5%), the Southern California Public Power Authority (5.9%), and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (5.7%). APS was granted a 20-year license extension to operate through 2045 for Unit 1, 2046 for Unit 2, and 2047 for Unit 3, with the option to submit a subsequent license renewal application for extended operation.

The Palo Verde Generating Station, lying in the Northeastern Sonoran Desert, is the only large nuclear power plant in the world that is not near a large body of water. The power plant cools and condenses the steam that it produces by using treated sewage water from several nearby cities and towns.

The Palo Verde Generating Station is located on 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of land, and it consists of three pressurized water reactors, each with an original capacity to produce 1.27 GW of electric power. After a power up-rate, each reactor is able to produce 1.4 GW of electric power. The usual power production capacity is about 70 to 95 percent of this. This nuclear power plant is a major source of electric power for the densely populated parts of Southern Arizona, Southern California, and Central New Mexico e.g. the Phoenix, and Tucson, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, and San Diego, California metropolitan areas.

The Palo Verde Generating Station produces about 35 percent of the electric power that is generated in Arizona. It became fully operational by 1988, took twelve years to build and cost about 5.9 billion dollars. The power plant employs about 2,055 full-time employees.

The Palo Verde Generating Station supplied electricity at an operating cost (including fuel and maintenance) of 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2015. In 2002, Palo Verde supplied electricity at 1.33 cents per kilowatt-hour; that price was cheaper than the cost of coal (2.26 cents per kW·h) or natural gas (4.54 cents per kW·h) in the region, but more expensive than hydroelectric power (0.63 cents per kW·h). Also in 2002, the wholesale value of the electricity produced was 2.5 cents per kW·h. By 2007, the wholesale value of electricity at the Palo Verde Generating Station was 6.33 cents per kW·h.

At the time of its 2011 license renewal, the Arizona Public Service Company reported that since its commissioning, Palo Verde's electricity production had offset the emission of almost 484 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (the equivalent of taking up to 84 million cars off the road for one year); more than 253,000 metric tons of sulfur dioxide; and 618,000 metric tons of nitrogen oxide. The company noted, "If Palo Verde were to cease operation at the end of the original license, replacement cost of natural gas generation—the least expensive alternative—would total $36 billion over the 20-year license renewal period."

Bechtel Power Corporation was the Architect/Engineer/Constructor for the facility initially under the direction of the Arizona Nuclear Power Project (a joint APS/SRP endeavor), later managed exclusively by Arizona Public Service. Edwin E. Van Brunt was the key APS executive in charge of engineering, construction, and early operations of the plant. William G. Bingham was the Bechtel Chief Engineer for the project. Arthur von Boennighausen was one of the Owner's Representatives for Arizona Public Service.