Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Kevin Thompson wants to end subsidies and mandates

Since he was a child, Kevin Thompson has taken things apart to know how they work — even though his father, a sign painter near Dallas, Texas, encouraged Thompson's artistic skills.

“He would paint big sale signs on the windows and stuff,” said Thompson, 54, adding that he was not even “remotely interested” in it, as the profession was dying out. After learning how be an auto mechanic, he joined the Air Force as a jet mechanic at 19.

A few years later, he attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, while on duty at the nearby Air Force base, majoring in mechanical engineering, and eventually joining Southwest Gas as an engineer, though he was terminated after 16 years there.

His interest in seeing how cities functioned behind the scenes later on prompted him to run for Mesa City Council, where he has served as a member since 2014.

Now, Thompson wants to put his experiences to use on the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Thompson and fellow Republican Nick Myers are partnering in the election where two seats are up for grabs.

The Arizona Corporation Commission sets rates for utilities and maintains railroad and pipeline systems, among other roles, and is an elected body made up of five commissioners.

Termination from Southwest Gas

After graduation, he joined Southwest Gas in 1998, starting in the engineering department.

Thompson worked there for 16 years, spending the last five in public affairs. It was in this role that he got his first glimpse into local governance and politics.

“I was the local liaison between the company and local governments. Seeing the good and bad of cities and politics," he said.

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But the end of his work with the company didn't come amicably.

In 2014, Southwest Gas terminated Thompson, according to court documents filed by his attorney in U.S. District Court. He filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the company in 2018, which was settled outside court later that year.

In the lawsuit, Thompson claimed he was made to work differently than his younger counterparts, whom he said were given better opportunities than he received. He was placed on a 60-day work improvement plan and terminated three days after it ended, being told that he did not meet his supervisor's expectations, according to court records.

If he is elected to the commission, he would become a regulator of the company that terminated him.

Thompson said his history with the company and the lawsuit would not affect his impartiality, however.

“I think there were some intimidation factors in play … not that I was purposefully trying to intimidate anybody — I’m just very solutions-oriented. And sometimes, people don’t like that you step on toes. But we learned and moved on," Thompson said in an interview with The Arizona Republic.

Thompson also told The Republic that he resigned from his position at Southwest Gas, but said he could not provide documentation of that.

In a statement to The Republic, Southwest Gas said, "Kevin Thompson was employed at Southwest Gas from July 1998-November 2014. He was hired as an engineer and moved to public affairs which was his last position held before leaving the company. The company does not comment on litigation matters."

Thompson said his experience, seeing the inner workings of city governance, inspired him to run for the Mesa City Council, where he has served two terms. He believes that his experience working with Southwest Gas and as a councilmember will help him make decisions that will protect "the energy grid and protect the consumer."

Mesa owns its own natural gas, electric and sewer systems, and the Council was responsible for setting utility rates.

“I think it's imperative that the commissioners have the experience working within that realm, so that they can ensure they're protecting not only the consumer, but also the reliability and resiliency of the electric/energy grid,” Thompson said.

Ending mandates and subsidies

Thompson also wants to eliminate mandates and subsidies, which he believes will lower utility rates across the board.

“All those subsidies go back into the rate base for the corporation to collect from the consumers," he said.

He especially wishes to end the subsidies and mandates promoting renewable energy — but said he would support renewable energy if the technology could stand up on its own feet, without subsidies, he said.

In 2014, when Thompson was elected to the Mesa City Council just weeks before he was terminated from Southwest Gas, he worked with David Richins, who also was a councilmember then. Richins recalls that he was impressed by Thompson’s work ethic and responsiveness toward his constituents. Thompson also helped Richins understand the business side of utilities.

One such topic was on raising water rates, which Richins said ultimately reduces revenue as consumers use less water.

“So you want to look at the highest users, and maybe the businesses or people that are heavy water users to absorb a lot of that off. So he really helped me evaluate all of those things,” Richins said.

Legislature should make energy policy

Thompson said he wants energy policymaking left in the hands of the Legislature.

The commission has five commissioners, and three need to agree on an issue or decision to form a majority.

“And there’s no reason why three people should be setting energy policy for the entire state of Arizona,” Thompson said.

Recently, the commission had considered a major update to the state's requirements for renewable energy after a years-long process, but the commission ultimately rejected the changes.

Rural communities are often left out in policymaking due to the makeup of the commission, Thompson said, noting the commission is made up mostly of people from Maricopa County.

While the commission does not have the power to pass laws, Thompson said he and Myers are building relationships with legislators to try to take away policy-making authority from the commission, Thompson said.

Renewables and climate change

Talking about climate change and the commission’s role in combating it, Thompson said that Arizona consumers should not bear that burden when other large polluters, such as China, are not on board with combating pollution.

He also believes that Arizona has done well as it has renewable energy such as wind turbines, solar and hydroelectricity generation contributing to the grid.

In Arizona, utilities are mandated to get 15% of their energy from renewables, which according to Thompson, especially burdens lower-income individuals even as the corporations get their 8-10% returns on the investment over time.

“The rich get the solar panels on their house while the poor have to pay for it. And that’s sort of what’s happening with rebates and subsidies. The technology just is not there,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Corporation Commission 2022 Republican candidate: Kevin Thompson