Rival slates vie for seats on board that sets SRP energy rates
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Rival left- and right-leaning slates are battling for seats on the board that sets energy rates and policy for the Salt River Project (SRP).
Why it matters: SRP's elected district board sets rates and energy policy that affect its 1.1 million Phoenix-area customers. Unlike most Arizona utilities, SRP isn't regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission.
The big picture: Most candidates for SRP's energy and water boards are aligned with one of two slates.
- The Clean Energy Team — led by Sandra Kennedy for president and Casey Clowes for vice president — touts its commitment to "sustainability, reducing pollution, and protecting our water and power systems for the long term."
- Elected Leadership for SRP — led by president candidate Chris Dobson and vice president candidate Barry Paceley — supports a diverse energy portfolio, including renewables, Paceley told Axios, but is primarily focused on economics and affordability.
Zoom in: Two right-of-center groups — MAGA-aligned conservative Turning Point Action and business community-backed Arizonans for Responsible Growth (ARG) — are both supporting the Dobson-Paceley team, though not working directly together.
- ARG chair Jimmy Lindblom tells Axios his group is focused on affordability and sustainability and is primarily funded by "growth-minded corporations and individuals."
- Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point Action, cast the race as a battle between "commonsense candidates" and "radical environmentalists."
Kennedy, a district board member and former corporation commissioner, told Axios that her Clean Energy Team is working to educate voters about why it's important to support the candidates who are "running for clean energy and lower rates" and to keep Turning Point off the SRP board.
- "This election is about sustainability, reducing pollution, and protecting our water and power systems for the long term," Kennedy's team said in a joint statement earlier this month.
- Kennedy was part of a slate of clean energy candidates that won seats in 2024.
State of play: Turning Point has mounted an aggressive ground game, registering voters — eligible voters must register separately from other elections — and knocking on doors. Signs backing its slate have appeared across the Valley.
- ARG is focusing on paid digital advertising and expects to spend over $500,000, Lindblom said.
- The Clean Energy Team has "quite a few" volunteers registering and talking to voters, spokesperson Josie Mitz told Axios, but expects to be outspent 10-to-1.
- Kennedy noted that the team also has little outside support.
The intrigue: For Turning Point Action, there's more at stake than just the SRP district.
- Bowyer told Axios last September that the SRP race would help the group build organizing muscle ahead of the 2028 election, calling it a "major voter outreach opportunity."
- He added last week that Turning Point wants to prevent SRP from being "hijacked by radicals."
How it works: SRP has two governing bodies with elected boards.
- The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District sets the electricity rate and policy for power generation, and the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association oversees water delivery.
- Noncommercial landowners in SRP territory are eligible to vote. For the district's division seats and the association board, voting is based on acreage, while the district's at-large seats are one vote per landowner.
What's next: The election is April 7 and early voting begins March 11.