AZ Corporation Commission
Three of five seats are up for grabs
A lot of people don’t even know what the Corporation Commission is or what they do. However, this is a race that is most likely to have the most obvious impact on your life and your wallet. Their job is to “oversee executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings on behalf of Arizonans when it comes to their water, electricity, telephone, and natural gas resources as well as the regulation of securities, pipeline, and railroad safety.” (Straight from the Corporation Commission Website).
I am not going to reinvent the wheel here, if you want a bit more info on Corporation Commission and what they do/their history, this is a really quick and easily digestible explainer from the Tucson Agenda that I highly recommend checking out.
I also found this article from 12News to be informative, as it talks a little about the record of the current commission. The current Republican majority commission is accused of being more on the side of utility companies than on the side of consumers, and they are also accused of stifling forward movement in green energy.
“a former chair of the Commission, Republican Bob Burns, openly questioned last year whether current Republican Commissioners are ‘captured’ by the for-profit utilities they regulate. Last year Burns said their handling of ethical complaints and their votes on key cases suggested ‘a practice of being captured’ by utilities.”
“12News analyzed seven of the most significant votes by Republican Commissioners over the past two years involving rates and fees of for-profit utilities. The state agency delegated to represent the interests of consumers, RUCO, opposed all seven of those decisions. In one of them - the recent APS rate hike - the Commission approved rates three times higher than what RUCO recommended.”
Those on the commission currently who approved the rate hikes defended them by saying they have done their best to balance the demands on energy sources with keeping it affordable.
“The next Commission also faces key decisions about green energy policies that the current Commission is dismantling. For example, while most states are expanding energy efficiency and renewable standards, in February the ACC became the only state regulatory body at the time to kill its standards. Republican Commissioners said the standards were outdated and overly burdensome. The Commission’s lone Democrat, Ana Tovar, called the vote “horrendous.”
There are 5 seats on the corporation commission and 3 of those seats are up for grabs this election. There are 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats running for those seats. One of the Republicans (Lea Marquez Peterson) currently serves on the commission and is running for another term. Currently, there is only one Democrat on the commission.
Here is a debate you can watch. The overall gist is that the current Republican led commission continues to raise consumer rates (meaning your electric and water bills have continued to increase) and the Democrats want to stop that. Republicans in the debate promised that they will (or in the case of the one incumbent, she has already been doing this) work to lower costs for ratepayers or that the current rates are already fair. Here is a great summary of the debate if you want to read one instead of watch.
I also read a few articles about the differences between the party viewpoints when it comes to energy regulation. In 2006, the Arizona Corporation Commission created the Renewable Energy Standard and Tarriff (REST) rules that would require electric utilities to generate 15% of their energy from renewable sources by 2025. The lone Democrat on the committee and those trying to get elected argue that these rules are an important step in combatting climate change and actually don’t even go far enough. The Republicans on the committee have spent this year attempting to get rid of the REST rules completely, and it seems that those trying to get elected also do not support these rules. They say that they have cost ratepayers more money and have not produced positive results. Producing clean energy is lower down on the priorities list, after reliability and affordability. Keep in mind these basic ideas as you read the candidate summaries below.
But let’s get into the candidates individually. All info is pulled from their campaign websites, which you can get to by clicking on their names.
Lea Marquez Petersen (Incumbent)
says she has supported rate reductions in the past and has successfully negotiated refunds to ratepayers
lists work she has done on making sure that utilities are prepared for increased demand as Arizona grows and temperatures rise
Supported efforts to stop disconnecting customers during the summer and the pandemic
Supported the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant in San Tan Valley
Worked to pass a Code of Ethics to address concerns that there is corruption in the Corporation Commission. As part of this code of ethics, Commissioners and candidates for the commission cannot accept donations from utility companies.
Says she has worked hard to “get government out of the way” by eliminating bureaucracy. (This is kind of a fancy way to say she doesn’t believe in clean energy mandates)
In lieu of mandates, Lea says she supports voluntary commitments that some utility companies have made for 100% clean energy by 2050 in Arizona. (If companies want to make their own clean energy goals, that’s great, but she doesn’t think the government should require clean energy goals)
belives we need to transition towards more renewable energy sources in light of climate change issues. We must protect the planet and water.
Focus on consumer protection and making sure that individuals are taken care of.
has previously served as a Governing Board Member in the Osborn School District, a trustee on the Vitalyst Health Foundation Board, and a member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District.
served almost twenty years as a commissioned Foreign Service Officer with the United States Department of State.
calls the current Republican majority on the commission “corrupt” and says they are “failing” at their jobs. He says they are in the pocket of oil and coal companies.
We need to move away from gas and coal because it requires us to rely too much on other countries around the world. “If we make investments in clean energy, we will control our own electricity prices.”
Mentions Texas’s power grid failure and says it is because they were too dependent on fossil fuels. He says this will happen in AZ too if we don’t chang up who is on the commission.
The current Commission is getting in the way of utility companies investing in clean energy.
“With a diverse portfolio of solar, wind, and storage, Arizona can be energy independent” and he says that clean energy is already cheaper than fossil fuels.
has a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences. Has spent the last 18 years at ASU working on NASA space missions.
believes his engineering experience gives him a better understanding of what challnges we face when it comes to generating power and distributing water. He particularly points to his knowledge of geology and how he believes it will help him address groundwater management issues.
We must continue with the progress we have already made with solar and wind energy. He understands the grid and how we can make it even better. “As a professional aerospace engineer and geologist, he can offer expert insight into infrastructure and resource management to maximize efficiency, making sure that Arizonans don’t have to sacrifice reliable utilities for affordability.”
We cannot ignore climate change and we must have a Corporation Commission that “prioritizes both a science-backed transition to climate resilient practices and the protection of our economy.”
W should support “advancements in renewable energy, energy storage, and smart grid systems”
He is the only candidate that talks about how utitlity companies have started to become targets of hackers, putting us at risk of major servic disruptions. He says he has experience with cybersecurity requirements due to his work on NASA missions and that we should implement similar security measures to protect AZ utilities.
We must carefully manage desert aquifers, and he has the geological knowledge to do that.
Served as a Cryptologic Officer in the Navy, then served on the Chandler City Council as well as the Chandler Parks and Recreation Committee, Vice Mayor of Chandleer, and Legislative District Chairman and Second Vice Chair of the Executive Guidance Committee. He also founded CeCe’s Hope Center, a non-profit that helps young women rescued from sex-trafficking.
blames increased energy costs on the Biden administration (he makes clear on his website that he is a Trump supporter - no other candidates discussed their political affiliations on their website)
blames California for wasting Colorado River water and says that we are not generating enough energy from the Hoover Dam.
We need a “diverse energy portfolio” and that all forms of energy production should be part of it. He lists the order of where he believes we should focus our energy needs as hydro, nuclear, coal, and natural gas.
Believes we should use a combination of natural gas and solar power.
Has a career in finance and business, currently working for Vanguard.
I thought this quote from her website was rather bizarre. “Rachel's mom made it a point to teach her children to never take a handout from the government because true freedom was found through self reliance.”
Currently a member of the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board, where she is most known for the fact that she sued the school district over their policies that were inclusive of trans students and allowed them to use bathrooms that aligned with their gender identity. In the suit, she asked the school district to put in a place a policy where parents would immediately be notified if their student attempted to discuss “any matters of sexuality with school employees, including when students express confusion or concern about their gender or sexual identity.” The lawsuit was dismissed.
Disagrees with “forcd climate goals” that she says thwart free market principles and hurt rater payers.
Arizona needs to continue a mixed portfolio of energy options to allow predictable, abundant, and well distributed resources across our state
Government interference drives up the cost of energy. The only factors that should be used in energy generation are cost, reliability, and grid integrity. Essentially, we should not consider the climate when it comes to energy generation and we should not impose clean energy standards.
We should improve efficiency for rate case processing.