Lea Márquez Peterson is the longest serving member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, having been appointed in 2019 and elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024. As the only statewide elected official based in southern Arizona, she told the Arizona Capitol Times how she brings a different perspective to the ACC, and what she hopes to accomplish in her last four years. 

What led you to become a corporation commissioner?

I had won the primary in my congressional race [in 2018], and worked really hard at it. So I ran a real campaign, raised like a million and a half dollars, was out talking to national media, really working hard to represent. I lost the general election … So, after that, I decided to leave the chamber, and thought, Well, what should I do next? I wanted to stay in the Tucson area, though I could work anywhere. So I was in that space where I was starting to think about taking on clients or doing consulting, and I got a call from Governor Ducey’s office. He’d endorsed my race for Congress, so he knew me, and knew how hard I was working running for office, and his team reached out to me … and I said, absolutely honored to serve, let me do some research. Because I knew the commissioners, but I don’t think anyone fully understands the full scope of the work we do at the commission. I basically called them back within 24 hours and said, I’m in. It’s a very steep learning curve, I feel like now I’ve been at this six years that I have a master’s degree in electricity, water, gas, nuclear, all these different things that we tackle at the commission. I’d say it took me probably about a year to really understand all the acronyms and the players and the lobbying groups and the utilities. 

Why did you decide to run for reelection in 2020 and again in 2024?

Running in 2020 was very challenging. I launched my campaign and COVID hit. Someday, I’m going to write a book about that, how to win office in a worldwide pandemic. So I ran then and thought, Gosh, that was interesting. It was challenging, but do I want to continue doing the work? And I ultimately decided, after talking to my family, my husband, my children, my parents and so on, that I really enjoyed the work. I liked the wonkiness, I guess, of the work that we do. I like the analysis. I like knowing that I’m there representing the ratepayers, and I’m very clear when I’m voting on issues that I’m not an electrical engineer or a nuclear engineer. My background is that I’ve been a ratepayer, I’ve been a small-business owner, and that’s truly the opinion and the perspective I’m giving on all these very complex cases that we work on. And I really enjoyed that. I also liked being statewide, talking to folks in Morenci and Yuma and Lake Havasu and all these different places. 

What have you learned from your time on the Corporation Commission?

This is my first elected position, so I knew about lobbyists and special interest groups. But I was surprised by how much lobbying happens when you’re in a position like the commission. I was also surprised how little we heard from real people in the public writing me a letter with their own words saying, “please vote this way or that way, Commissioner, because it’ll impact my family or my business.” I do a lot of public speaking now at rotaries and chambers and … I tell them when I speak to them, we need to hear from you. Your elected officials across the state in every role are making decisions that impact your businesses and your lives and your roads and your trash cans, I mean, everything. So you need to weigh in and understand the role we have. And then I give them a little one on one on what the commission is and the key issues in front of us. So I think that was the biggest surprise, is how little people paid attention. I’m thankful when I get 1,000 emails on an issue, which we do now. It’s a little discouraging to get 1,000 form letters. I always tell people, if someone’s soliciting, you get the form letter and put it in your own terms, or attach your bill, or tell me your story. It’ll have more impact than a whole bunch of form letters.

What do you wish people — ratepayers, lawmakers — knew about the commission?

I’d say for ratepayers throughout the state, what I’d like them to know is just how transparent we are. Most people are surprised when I’m speaking to them that you can watch our meetings, you can write an email … you can testify, you can participate via WebEx or Zoom. We’re very open, and we very much want to hear from ratepayers. On the legislative side or the elected side, I really wish they had a basic understanding of what the commission does. Every legislative cycle we will have hundreds of bills that impact the work we do at the commission, and not a lot of understanding of the depth of the work we do or our constitutional role. We’re trying to meet and speak with all the legislators, mayors and councils, and county board of supervisors, or whoever we can get to explain the role of the commission and how we want to work collaboratively. We can do so much more together than fighting over bills.

You’re the only commissioner based in southern Arizona. What has that been like?

I’m proud to be, I think, the only statewide (elected) official in Arizona from southern Arizona. It does give me a different perspective. I live in Tucson. I drive up usually on a Tuesday, come back on a Thursday. I was lucky enough to get a little condo up there so that I don’t have to drive back and forth every single night, which I did do at the beginning. And that’s tough. We have a little office in Tucson, not a building like we do in Phoenix, but we have an office so that if you live in Graham County or Morenci or Nogales, you don’t have to meet every commissioner in Phoenix. You can Zoom, certainly, now, but I could just meet you in Tucson. I tend to pay a lot of attention to our retail electric co-ops. We have seven of them that we regulate. They’re based in rural parts of Arizona, and I pay a lot of attention to those. So much of the growth is happening in Maricopa County, I mean, there’s so much happening whether it’s data centers or semiconductor industry and other manufacturing, so much population growth. But I tend to spend a lot of time focused on coal impacted communities in the future, and spreading the love. As we grow and see economic development, how do we reach the other counties across the state?

What do you listen to when you drive between Tucson and Phoenix?

I do audio books. So I got into those because I have several hours (to drive). I got tired very quickly listening to political talk shows and political podcasts. I do still listen to that periodically, or I’ll catch up on the radio that I’ve missed. But I like to focus on audio books. Maybe a thriller, like Sandra Brown. She was just at the Tucson Festival of Books, actually, which is incredible.

You’re term-limited at the ACC. Have you thought about what will come next for you when your current term is up?

I would be honored to continue to serve and be in a public service role, but I don’t know where there’ll be an opportunity or the right timing for something like that, so I’m just going to keep my options open. I have four years, not two years, like so many other offices. So probably, in two years, I’ll start putting feelers out and understanding what other options there might be, or whether I do some other line of work. It’s been a great education in this field. So I would like to, if I’m not going into a different public service role, continue in the work, not necessarily for a utility, but there are lots of other ways to engage in the energy and water and nuclear space.