A Democrat and two Republicans continued to lead a race for three seats on the five-member Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities in the state.
After postings of newly counted ballots by several counties Thursday evening, Democrat Anna Tovar, mayor of Tolleson, maintained her lead in the polling over Commissioner Lea Marquez Peterson, a Tucson Republican.
Marquez Peterson, who sought election after being appointed to fill a vacancy on the commission last year, remained ahead of Scottsdale Republican Jim O’Connor, a retired businessman.
Republican Eric Sloan follows in fourth place after edging ahead of Democrat Bill Mundell, an attorney and former commission member, while Democrat Shea Stanfield remained at bottom of the pack.
Thousands of ballots remained uncounted statewide Thursday evening, but if the results hold, Democrats would gain a second four-year seat but fail to break the Republican’s majority on the regulatory panel.
And it's unclear if a new Republican majority would support proposed new clean-energy rules, including a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050, tentatively approved by the commission’s current Democratic member and two departing Republicans.
The three newly elected commissioners will serve four-year terms and join Republicans Justin Olson and Democrat Sandra Kennedy on the ACC, which besides electric, gas and water utilities regulates corporations and pipeline and railroad safety in the state.
The new Corporation Commission will dictate the pace and scope of Arizona’s move away from fossil fuels to carbon-free energy, as the first to implement a new set of rules intended to move Arizona away from fossil-fuel power generation to a cleaner energy future.
Last week, the current commission gave tentative approval to new rules requiring state-regulated utilities including Tucson Electric Power Co. and Arizona Public Service Co. to get 100% of their power from carbon-free sources including nuclear power by 2050 — with interim carbon-emissions reductions of 50% by 2032 and 75% by 2040 — and to generate at least 50% of their power from renewable sources by 2035.
The new clean-energy standards, which allow utilities to request waivers especially if needed to maintain electric reliability, passed on a 3-2 vote, with Kennedy joined by Republicans Bob Burns, the panel’s current chairman, and Commissioner Boyd Dunn.
Marquez Peterson and Olson voted against the standards.
Olson, who was not up for re-election this year, has said he opposes any mandates that could raise ratepayer costs and that the adoption of solar has driven rate increases.
Other parts of the new energy rules given initial approval would require utilities to increase energy storage, including customer-owned battery systems, and boost energy-efficiency goals.
The clean-energy rules crafted by the current commission have not yet been finalized, and a new commission could decide to ditch them.
Burns is leaving office in January after reaching his two-term limit for commissioners. Dunn failed to qualify for the primary ballot after some of his nominating signatures were rejected.
Marquez Peterson, who was appointed last year to fill a vacancy caused when former commission members Andy Tobin was named director of the Arizona Department of Administration, said she supported the carbon-emission reductions but she doesn’t support mandates for renewable energy.
Sloan has said he doesn’t support mandating renewable energy, while O’Connor — who made the general-election ballot after waging a primary write-in campaign — has said he generally opposes any mandates or subsidies.
The new energy standards — which count power from APS’s Palo Verde nuclear plant as a carbon-free “clean energy” source — will replace the state’s current renewable-energy standard, which requires utilities to get 15% of their power from renewables like solar and wind by 2025.
The current Corporation Commission is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on the clean-energy rules at a special open meeting on Nov. 13.
