Key Points

• Democrats Clara Pratte and Jonathon Hill are expected to win two seats on the Corporation Commission

• The two Republican candidates have conceded the race in interviews

• Democrats will bring opposition to the commission for the first time in two years

Single-party rule on the Arizona Corporation Commission is over after two Republicans conceded their seats on the utility-regulation body to Democrats.

Clara Pratte and Jonathon Hill defeated incumbent Commissioner Kevin Thompson and Rep. Ralph Heap, R-Mesa, in Tuesday’s election. Results are still unofficial, with many ballots left to count, but both Republicans conceded in Wednesday interviews with the Arizona Capitol Times. 

Republicans still hold three of the commission’s five seats, but Pratte and Hill will bring a Democratic dissent that the ACC hasn’t seen in two years. Hill, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the ACC in 2024, attributed this year’s Democratic wins to issues currently pending before the commission. 

“I felt like [the momentum] built as we got closer to Election Day,” Hill said. “The [Arizona Public Service] rate case is coming up. We were just down in Yuma, and they had just received a notice that they’re looking at another [water] rate increase. Data center concerns are growing. All these issues were growing, but thankfully people were connecting it to the commission, which I think is new.”

As commissioners, Pratte and Hill vowed to question utility companies from the dais and subpoena their records in order to address ratepayers’ questions about data centers and energy affordability.

“There’s very little good information, reliable information out there about exactly how much water [data centers] are using, how much energy they actually are using,” Hill said. “I think that an easy early goal is to really collect good, reliable information on these things so that everyone at the table knows what we’re discussing.”

Pratte will also bring a new perspective to the commission as the state’s first Indigenous woman elected to statewide office. As a member of the Navajo Nation, Pratte resides in northern Arizona and campaigned on making the ACC accessible to more Arizona ratepayers.

“Our rural and tribal communities often felt neglected by the ACC,” Pratte said. “… Out of the last four years, out of 376 meetings, all of those except for four were held in Phoenix or Tucson.” 

Commissioner Lea Márquez Peterson, who is term-limited in 2028, lives in Tucson and is the only current commissioner who resides outside of central Arizona. She is also expected to be a crucial swing vote on the commission in the next two years, given her opposition to the ACC’s controversial formula rate policy statement.

Pratte and Hill have already pledged to vote against any formula rate proposals, which let utility companies adjust rates annually through a condensed review process rather than undergoing a rigorous rate case examination every three to five years. Márquez Peterson voted against the policy statement enabling formula rates and against the first formula rate structure adopted by the commission. 

But the two Democrats may not get a chance to weigh in on the pending Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power rate cases, both of which feature formula-rate proposals. TEP’s rate case, with a recommended 11% rate increase, is tentatively scheduled for a Nov. 17 vote, while APS’ rate case is expected to wrap up in December. 

“After voters have already clearly shown that they’re unhappy with the current commission, they seem intent on moving forward with making decisions when they don’t have the support of the voters,” Hill said. “So I’m disappointed in that.” 

For their part, Thompson and Heap reluctantly wished Pratte and Hill luck.

“We’re turning over a well-functioning state and organization to new leadership, and we just hope that they don’t screw it up,” Thompson said. 

Heap blamed the loss on the current commission’s recent votes and deflected criticism regarding the ongoing Citizens Clean Elections Commission investigation into his campaign finances. 

“People can’t tolerate double-digit rate increases, and you’ve got double-digit rate increases, and you’ve got the utilities making massive profits,” Heap said. “So it’s pretty clear that people feel like the Corporation Commission hasn’t really been on their side, and I think that’s probably true.”

Pratte said she and Hill have already begun meeting with stakeholders and ratepayers to deliver on their campaign promises.

“We’re hitting the ground running,” Pratte said. “We know the commission is not stopping. We can’t either.”