Grassroots conservative Christy Kelly announced her candidacy for the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). Voters will decide who will serve in three of the five commission seats in 2024. Jim O’Connor is not running for reelection to the ACC, and progressive Commissioner Anna Tovar and Republican Commissioner Lea Márquez Petersen are up for reelection.
Kelly’s platform of stopping Arizona utility companies following ESG guidelines stands in sharp contrast to the field of current candidates. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance, and are the three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a business or company.
“You need me on the commission because I am here to sound the alarm that the biggest threat to Arizona that the commission faces is ESG and Green New Deal mandates,” she told The Arizona Sun Times.
Kelly (pictured above) identifies as part of the #WalkAway movement as a former Democrat who became a Republican. She said, “I like to say I’ve always been conservative — I just didn’t know it. Black folks are naturally conservative, we were just brainwashed.”
Christy Kelly 🇺🇸Arizona Corporation Commission 2024. https://t.co/MOgzZV6Fts pic.twitter.com/0aoGRprpKe
— Christy Kelly for Corporation Commission (@Kelly4Humanity) December 20, 2023
Kelly has two law degrees but does not practice traditional law. She is a mediator and runs a nonprofit focused on fathers’ rights. Kelly comes from a military family; her three brothers served in the military, her nephew is a career officer, and her niece is a pilot in the army. Kelly’s niece is the first black woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross award.
She told The Sun Times, “I am not backed by the establishment, in fact — I didn’t ask anyone’s permission before I decided to run.” She said she will bring with her “an unwavering support for an America First agenda” and “love for the Constitution.”
Kelly said everyone running for the ACC pledges to focus on the same things: the threat of water scarcity, keeping rates low, avoiding reliance on renewable energy, and keeping the state on the grid. While she agrees those are important, she said any Republican could promise those.
She said, “In fact, the biggest threat is not proactively doing anything to stop the utilities from enacting these insidious policies. So far, our commission believes they do not have the mandate to act.”
ACC commissioners said they need to defer to the Arizona Legislature to address those issues, but Kelly said she believes the ACC has the authority to fight back on its own, noting that it will be difficult for the legislature to get anything passed since Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs will veto their efforts in this area. Kelly pointed out how former Commissioner Justin Olson successfully stopped the utilities from requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for their employees. A court held that in areas where the legislature does not preempt the ACC, the ACC may act.
Olson sent the ACC a letter on October 4, 2023, that said, “I strongly urge this Commission, pursuant to your authority and obligation, to adopt a policy to completely prohibit ESG at the utilities, protecting ratepayers, securing just and reasonable rates, and ensuring Arizonans benefit from abundant, affordable, and reliable energy into the future.”
Kelly explained her reasoning for making those her priorities.
“The climate change agenda is a hoax, the Green New Deal and ESG policies will raise utility rates, and a sole reliance on solar and wind is unreliable,” the ACC candidate said.
The utility companies have stated their commitment to ESG goals, she said, which include Net Zero by 2050, phasing out coal power plants, and “unconstitutional hiring policies to foster a woke agenda of DEI.”
In 2018, voters rejected renewable mandates, and the ACC also rejected proposed mandates in 2021. However, the utility companies have since found a workaround by committing themselves to ESG policies, Kelly said.
“The commission is taking a reactive stance when it must be proactive,” she said.
The ACC regulates non-municipal utility companies, including energy, heat, trash, water, and communications firms. It also oversees securities regulations, railroad/pipeline safety, and the incorporation of businesses. Commissioners serve four-year terms, limited to two terms. Candidates run as partisans, with the terms staggered, so Thompson and Meyers will be up for reelection in 2026.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Christy Kelly” by Christy Kelly.
