Q&A: Dem candidates for Corp Comm

It’s perhaps the most questionably named governmental body in the state, and since it became a five-person panel in 2002, the Arizona Corporation Commission has been dominated by Republicans.

Currently, there’s not a single Democrat on the commission — something that candidates Jonathon Hill and Clara Pratte are attempting to change. They face an uphill battle — and key to their mission is educating the public about what the commission actually does.

The primary role of the powerful commission is regulating public utilities, like Arizona Public Service Company (APS), which are essentially monopolies that provide electricity, water or other essential commodities to the state’s residents. While it has other responsibilities — like ensuring pipeline and railroad safety — recent surges in electricity prices have brought into focus the commission’s power to approve or deny rate increases.

In both 2023 and 2024, the commission approved a plan for APS to increase rates it charges customers by 8% each year. Since a slate of three Democratic candidates failed to gain a single seat on the commission back in 2024, the commission has now asked for a huge 16% rate increase.

As both Pratte and Hill noted, that rate increase comes as APS posts substantial profits.

Hill brands himself as neither a businessman nor a politician: He has a master's degree in aerospace engineering and a Ph.D. in geological sciences. He’s spent 18 years working on NASA missions at Arizona State University — and his technical background shines through in a granular, nuts and bolts understanding of the state’s power systems.

Pratte, who grew up on the Navajo Nation without running water or utilities, has worked for decades in policy and advocacy for tribal communities and small businesses. She also started her own company, Navajo Power, which develops solar projects for Indigenous communities.

But the Democratic candidates aren’t the only ones challenging incumbent GOP Commissioners Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers, who were elected in 2022. The Arizona Legislature’s Freedom Caucus has thrown its support behind Reps. David Marshall and Ralph Heap in a challenge to flank the incumbents from the right.

We sat down with both Pratte and Hill between their travels criss-crossing the state — which included Lake Havasu, Sierra Vista, and Wickenburg in the few days before the interview — to hear from them via Zoom about their efforts to wrestle two seats away from the Republicans.

The Q&A has been edited lightly for clarity and concision.

Clara Pratte: We've seen double-digit rate increases and more requested of the Corporation Commission, and that's in large part driven by the fact that you have a full five-member, Republican-controlled commission right now, so there really isn't anybody pushing back. And even when they do push back, they still only need three votes to push things through.

We need commissioners that are going to ask hard questions, such as, “What is this going for? Why is this necessary? Why now?” And to ultimately, if it doesn't make sense to say no, and to push back for more reasonable rate increases. We know that rate increases will happen over time — we don't live in a bubble. But when you put, you know, 16% on top of an 8%, on top of another 8%, that's just not sustainable. People don't realize how much power (the commissioners) actually have.

Jonathon Hill: I believe there are some specific cases where we might be able to find common ground with at least one of the Republican commissioners. In addition, we would use our position on the commission to force the utilities to publicly answer hard questions about their proposed rate increases, so customers have more information about the precise reasons behind their increase requests.

JH: This race is probably unique among races in Arizona because you actually spend the majority of your time on education — and not as much on campaigning. You can't campaign for an office when people don't understand what it is or what it does, so you have to lay that groundwork.

The good news is that, you know, I've seen a difference from when I ran in 2024 to this cycle that people are remembering. Once they have someone explain the commission to them, how important it is, how it actually affects them, they do remember. Last time going around the state, we’d ask a group for a show of hands — “Who knows what the Corporation Commission is?” You'd get 10% if you were lucky. This time we're going back to some of the same groups and we're getting, you know, 70% of people who know what it is. And so we are making progress.

And right at the end of the 2024 campaign, there was a town hall we did out in Lake Havasu City, which is a deeply red area of the state. But they were really upset about their utility prices. During the summer, it is hot and they need their air conditioning and so it's a really a critical issue for them. And, you know, at first the room was pretty hostile, having a Democrat walk in. But by the end of the hour, I had people who were lifelong Republican Trump voters coming up and saying that for this office, they would vote for the Democrats. Once you kind of explained how the system worked, they saw that their own people were really screwing them. And they realized they had had enough.

CP: It was a no-brainer because it felt like, okay, if we're gonna be regulating companies, then we should not be taking corporate money. And I think it should be a requirement specifically for the Corporation Commission. I'm glad to see that many more people are running that way — and I think the Republicans (in the Corporation Commission race) are all running clean this term as well, which is a nice, welcome surprise — though it doesn't stop the CEOs from individually donating to those candidates.

JH: The voters have that additional level of confidence that it's not just our word that we're not taking (the utilities’) money, you know, the state is actually backing us up and verifying it. Something we found is that you can't run this race on billboards and, you know, glossy mailers and text messages. You have to get out there in person and talk to people because, you know, everyone gets all the junk in the mail. They don't read it. You know, you see billboards, it just blends into the background. But if someone takes 10 minutes to explain the commission and how it affects them, they remember. And so that's the hard part — actually doing the footwork and engaging with people and making sure that they understand what this office is.

CP: You can build as much solar and wind — even nuclear — as you want, but we don't currently have the infrastructure to move that energy around. So there's real concerns about how quickly we can deploy the increasing rate of energy usage that we have across the country. Particularly in Arizona, Maricopa County is the fastest growing county in the United States. There is not enough energy to continue to keep up with the demand for energy in the state. If we're still on the same trajectory, and we still have the same transmission lines without building any new lines, we're gonna run out of ways to move the power around — even if solar's being developed in places, we're not going to be able to get it deployed to where it needs to be to be used. And the utilities will admit this as well — they'll say that we are literally a year or two away from rolling blackouts.

JH: The commission is supposed to be our long-term planners. They're supposed to be looking out for not just what's good for Arizona today, but what's good for Arizona 10 years from now, 20 years from now. And clearly, they've taken their eye off the ball about that long-term planning aspect.

When something goes wrong, when the commission has failed, it's not an easy fix. It's not just, "Oh, let's vote new people onto the commission and we'll get this fixed.” No, you're looking at a decades-long project to return the utilities to just a normal state after certain issues. So you really have to have good commissioners who are looking ahead, planning in advance, and working out problems. Like I said, decades in advance to make sure when the time comes, everything works properly.

JH: I’ve been all over the state (in a hybrid Ford Escape), and that's actually been a great part of running for a statewide office. You get to see all these little places in Arizona that I just never been to, even though I'm a lifelong resident. When I'm driving out on the highway, you know, the radio’s off, there are no other cars, you're just driving down. I kind of get into this sort of meditation — clear your mind mode. And it actually helps a lot to do that when you're going to get out of the car and have to talk to, you know, a couple dozen people.

CP: Yeah, you know, definitely caffeine. I'm a big caffeine person. My kids — as much as they miss mommy being home — they've been really excited. My oldest, who’s eight, said, "I can't believe you're running for public office." But what energizes me is, you know, meeting with the constituents. One woman came up to me, and she was, like, in her early 90s, still active and being vocal in her community. She walked up to me and grabbed my hand and she held it with both of her hands, and she said, "You make me so proud.” A total stranger — and in that moment, I just felt energized again. It's like, this is why I’m doing this: to protect people like her. You have to just remember that there are people that are counting on you. It's not about me, it's about what we're trying to do for the people.

JH: I had never been to Colorado City until I attended a campaign event there, and was surprised by how beautiful the area is. It sits at the southern end of the mountains that form Zion National Park and you can see the beautiful cliffs from all over the city.