PHOENIX — Two Republicans on the Arizona Corporation Commission are facing primary challenges from state lawmakers who contend they are spurning President Donald Trump’s demand for more coal-fired power plants.
“I will support President Trump’s energy policy,’’ proclaimed Rep. David Marshall at a press conference Tuesday in front of the state Capitol, announcing that he and Rep. Ralph Heap will challenge Commissioners Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers in the 2026 GOP primary election.
“I support the Trump energy policy completely, which prioritizes fossil fuel as the backbone of our power grid,’’ Heap said. He also backs elimination of various subsidies and credits that “incentivize unreliable and higher cost solar and wind projects and puts at risk lower-cost natural gas and coal options.’’
Republicans Ralph Heap, left, and David Marshall announcing they will challenge fellow Republicans on the Arizona Corporation Commission in next year’s election.
The Corporation Commission, which regulates the rates charged by investor-owned utilities, declined to comply with the president’s order to reopen shuttered power plants. In Arizona, that means the Cholla plant near Joseph City in Navajo County.
Thompson, who chairs the commission, acknowledged that Trump’s order allows certain plants to comply with less-stringent versions of air quality standards. But he said the Clean Air Act still prohibits non-complaint coal-fired operations like Cholla.
The only way to legally reinstate full operation would be with a $1.9 billion project, Thompson said.
“There is no free money,’’ he said, saying that cost would be borne by Arizona Public Service ratepayers.
Incumbents Kevin Thompson (left) and Nick Myers, Republicans on the Arizona Corporation Commission.
He rejected the claim that he and Myers, the other GOP commissioner being challenged, are ignoring Trump and his agenda.
“I’ve had conversations with the White House and they understand Cholla is a lost cause,’’ Thompson told Capitol Media Services. “Instead, we are focused on the future and what can be done to protect generational assets that will keep Arizona thriving well into the future.’’
Heap brushed aside the cost of reopening Cholla.
“Some of these numbers are from APS and the utilities,’’ he said. “I think that’s overblown. That (plant) really could have been maintained and continue to run at least until we have a better idea of exactly what’s going to happen with energy in the near future.’’
‘Coal just can’t compete’
Heap said the state cannot rely on renewable energy.
“We need a major course correction,’’ and not just to provide power on a 24/7 basis, he said.
The coal-fired Cholla Power Plant near Joseph City, Arizona is shut down.
“China produces all the solar panels. And if recent reports are true, these come with ‘kill switches’ so they can turn them off whenever they want,’’ Heap said, in a reference to reports by Reuters that “rogue communication devices’’ were found in some Chinese-manufactured solar panels.
Prior commissions have set hard-and-fast goals for renewable energy that utilities were told to meet. The regulators conceded at the time that these alternatives had some additional costs that were being passed on to ratepayers. But they said it was justified by reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
As it turned out, the current commissioners, including Thompson and Myers, voted last year to scrap those standards, saying utilities should use market forces to decide how to produce power.
By that point, however, the debate was largely a moot point: Thompson said all the utilities had already adopted and were meeting their own renewable energy goals.
Anyway, Thompson said, it makes no sense to declare the state should rely only on fossil fuels. Prior subsidies under the Biden administration lowered the cost of solar, he said.
“Natural gas and coal just can’t compete,’’ Thompson said.
The bottom line, he said, is maintaining the electrical grid in the most reliable and cost-effective method.
“Whether that’s coming from coal, natural gas or renewables, we’re all in,’’ Thompson said. “Whatever’s going to keep the lights on.’’
APS itself agreed with the decision to shutter the Cholla plant in March, saying it was “uneconomical to operate.’’ Spokesman Mike Philipsen said the company is preserving the site for possible future use, either generating power through natural gas or potentially as the location for a nuclear generator.
Intra-party disagreements
The renewable energy issue is just one of the subjects in the upcoming race, in which Thompson and Myers are the only two members of the all-Republican commission who are up for re-election next year.
Right now, companies must come before the commission, open their books, and justify changes in how much they charge customers. It is up to the regulators to approve rate increases.
But the current commission adopted a policy of allowing utilities to impose annual rate adjustments, in between regular rake hikes.
Heap and Marshall said that is ignoring the requirement that the commission set rates.
Myers, however, said there would still be full-blown rate hearings. The formulas would allow for interim increases, and that would smooth out the eventual price hikes, he said.
All that assumes the commission decision to allow formula increases survives. It is being challenged in court by the Residential Utility Consumer Office.
Thompson also questioned the involvement of Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who acknowledged that he went out and recruited Heap and Marshall to try to oust their fellow Republicans. Hoffman is chair of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, a bloc of the most conservative legislators.
“My personal opinion,” Thompson said, “based on what I have been told and observed, is that Hoffman wants a Freedom Caucus member — or members — to control every statewide office in Arizona.”
Hoffman countered that it’s his job, as Republican national committeeman for Arizona, to recruit candidates who “match the Republican Party platform,’’ even if there are other Republicans in the race.
He has already advanced Kimberly Yee as the Freedom Caucus candidate for state schools chief and Alexander Kolodin for secretary of state. Hoffman is also a vocal backer of Andy Biggs in his bid to be the GOP nominee for governor. Both Yee and Biggs face fellow Republicans as opponents.
