Ylenia Aguilar
Corporation Commissioner
Democratic
https://www.aguilarforarizona.com
Ylenia Aguilar was born in Mexico and raised in Arizona and rural Illinois. She has served as a Governing Board Member in the Osborn School District, Vitalyst Health Foundation Board of Trustees, and Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) Advisory Council. She currently serves as a member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District on the frontlines of water issues facing Arizona.
Ylenia Aguilar was born in Mexico and raised in Arizona and rural Illinois. She has served as a Governing Board Member in the Osborn School District, Vitalyst Health Foundation Board of Trustees, and Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) Advisory Council. She currently serves as a member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District on the frontlines of water issues facing Arizona. She is the mother of two sons, Brock and Felix, both in their second year of college and high school, respectively. They share a passion for club soccer and mountain biking, just like their mother. Ylenia Aguilar is the Business Development Manager with Gybe, a water analytics company leveraging satellites, sensors, and predictive modeling to help organizations optimize watershed health. Gybe puts the power of precision freshwater intelligence in the hands of managers across the world working to secure every community's sustainable access to clean, life-giving water. Ylenia is participating as a Clean Elections Candidate because she believes a Corporation Commissioner shouldn't take money from special interests and the corporate entities they are elected to regulate.
Jonathon Hill
Corporation Commissioner
Democratic
https://www.votehillaz.com
I am a native Arizonan, born in Kingman and raised in central Phoenix. Since 2000 I have lived, studied and worked in Tempe. For the last 18 years I have been an engineer at ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility, where I have operated science instruments on NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Odyssey satellite, and numerous other space missions. I began my career as an Aerospace Engineer (BSE and MS), but fell in love with the geology work our missions were doing, so I switched tracks and completed my PhD in Geological Sciences.
I am running because I believe we need more Commissioners with strong technical backgrounds, who understand the engineering and science behind power generation, water distribution, and groundwater management. The Corporation Commission is responsible for making many critical technical decisions, such as where power plants and transmission lines can be built and whether water companies have sufficient groundwater resources to provide for their current and future customers. Commissioners need to have the training and experience to properly evaluate the different options and make the best possible decisions. I also believe the Commission needs to place more emphasis on ensuring the cybersecurity of our utilities, since power and water grids are increasingly becoming targets for hackers. Through my work with NASA missions, I have used state-of-the-art cybersecurity tools to protect our nation's assets in space, and I believe we should deploy those same tools to secure our utility grids here on Earth. I hope to use my engineering and geology expertise to ensure the Commission's decisions will make Arizona's utilities more affordable, more robust and more secure.
Rene Lopez
Corporation Commissioner
Republican
https://voterenelopez.com/
I have lived and worked in Chandler for more than 16 years. Serving on the Chandler City Council 2015-2023 and serving as Vice Mayor twice. I am a third generation Arizona native, graduating from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering and minor in Direct Energy Conversion. I am also a third generation U.S. Navy Veteran serving as a Naval Officer aboard submarines, honorably separating in 2000 as a Lieutenant. In 2017 I co-founded Cece's Hope Center that improves the lives and future of victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation by bridging the gap of services and providing holistic support. I have an extensive 23-year career in Project Management working in Telecommunications, Energy, and Information Technology.
ADDRESSING INFLATION: Recently, the current federal administration's policy is causing increased cost of coal and natural gas resulting in major increases in the utility rates we are paying across the country. Along with the wasteful use of Colorado River water by California, we have lost approximately 40% of our hydro generating capacity from Hoover Dam. I will work to ensure that only necessary costs of operations, maintenance and cost-effective reliable sources of energy are passed onto the rate payers. ENERGY RELIABILITY: I believe that a diverse energy portfolio is in the best interests of stability and cost effectiveness for Arizona's long-term future. All forms of energy production should be on the table for use. Some specifics are: hydro, nuclear, coal, and natural gas, and in that order of priority for baseload. SECURING ARIZONA'S FUTURE: For variable energy production, which is used to meet peaking and supplemental energy demands, I see natural gas and solar as the two main viable options in the immediate term. For long term, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) or other forms (i.e. batteries, GeoThermal, etc.) could be utilized once they have been proven safe, cost effective, and reliable.
Lea Márquez Peterson
Corporation Commissioner
Republican
http://www.VoteforLea.com
Lea Márquez Peterson was appointed to the Corporation Commission in 2019 and elected statewide in 2020. As a Commissioner and the Past Chairwoman, she has fought for affordable, safe and reliable energy. Lea has been a small business owner for decades and also served as President & CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber. She received her degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the UofA, and her MBA from Pepperdine University. Lea lives in Tucson with her husband and children.
Since joining the Commission in 2019, Lea Márquez Peterson has been a fierce advocate for holding utilities accountable and fighting for affordable, reliable energy. As the only Commissioner based outside the Phoenix area, Lea has worked diligently to provide financial relief for customers and ensure energy reliability for all of Arizona. Lea recently voted in support of more than $200 million dollars in revenue reductions in the APS rate case to save money for ratepayers. Lea served as the Chairwoman of the Commission from 2020 to 2022 and led initiatives to rebate $40 million dollars to customers of APS and TEP during the pandemic, created an energy reliability summit to ensure utilities are prepared for Arizona's hottest days and hosted meetings of the Commission to discuss the California rolling blackouts and its impact on Arizona's energy and utility prices. Lea is a champion for advanced nuclear technologies and co-chairs a national nuclear taskforce. Additionally, she has hosted multi agency workshops to improve the status of small water utilities throughout the state to ensure water reliability and affordability for Arizonans. Please visit www.VoteforLea.com and follow her on Facebook and X.
Joshua Polacheck
Corporation Commissioner
Democratic
https://www.joshuaforarizona.com
I grew up across the rural West, seeing firsthand the value of public service. At 23, I was commissioned into the Foreign Service and spent nearly two decades serving America overseas, including in Mosul and Beirut. In 2018, after getting my masters from the Harvard Kennedy School, I returned home to Arizona with my family. I have spent the last five years fighting to elect representatives who actually want to fix the real problems our state faces. I decided this is the year for me to get into the arena. Let's stop playing politics with our essential utilities.
The governing majority on the Arizona Corporation Commission is in the pocket of out-of-state fossil fuel interests. Instead of a forward-thinking transition to clean energy, they are tying our economic future to the chaos in Eastern Europe and the Persian Gulf. If reelected, they will bring to Arizona the deadly policies that killed over 200 people when the Texas grid failed. If elected, I will institute a market-based energy independence policy that will bring us an affordable, reliable, and secure grid through Arizona-produced energy. As a former national security official, I saw firsthand how fragile the fossil fuel supply chain is and how our dependency on it is a threat to America. With your support, we can break Arizona's reliance on foreign energy and become a model for the nation. Free from dirty fossil fuels, we will be free from sudden rate hikes. Use all three of your votes to elect Joshua Polacheck, Ylenia Aguilar, and Jonathon Hill to the Corporation Commission. We will protect you, not corporate interests. Start at the bottom of the ballot and vote your way up. Learn more about our plan to secure Arizona's water and power future at: www.joshuaforarizona.com
Rachel Walden
Corporation Commissioner
Republican
https://ElectRachelWalden.com
I've lived in Arizona for 39 years. I graduated with honors from Arizona State University and continued there for my post-graduate education. I was hired by ASU as a Teaching and Research Assistant and was a fellowship recipient. My career was in finance and business relations. I was securities licensed and trained in investments, ethics, and fraud prevention. My clients were large market corporations and my work involved government regulations, compliance, auditing, and process improvements. I currently serve as a member of the Mesa Public Schools Governing Board. I have prioritized parental rights, fiscal responsibility, and transparency.
The Commission exists under the Arizona Constitution to protect the rate payer. Their responsibility is to maintain a safe and reliable grid using the least cost of generation. The Commission is supposed to regulate, not legislate. Forced energy investments and climate goals put the rate payer last and thwart free market principles. The government should not pick winners and losers in the marketplace by choosing products that meet a personal agenda. We need to eliminate subsidies and mandates that increase the cost of your utilities. As Arizona grows, we should continue a mixed portfolio of energy options to allow predictable, abundant, and well distributed resources across our state. An all of the above approach to energy has proven to be cost effective and reliable and hedges against market conditions when pricing and supply fluctuate. We must work to create an efficient and effective organization that is responsive to the communities and businesses within our state. The Commission enforces securities and investment laws and my work experience is crucial in the fight to ensure the integrity of the financial marketplace and protect consumers from fraud. I have the right background and skills to put Arizonans first and deliver results, not excuses.