Republican Kim Owens said her experience serving in an elected position with Salt River Project and her current appointment to the Arizona Power Authority give her experience with issues she would address as a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Owens is one of three Republicans on the ballot in this year's primary election competing for two seats on the five-member commission. The Corporation Commission is an office created by the Arizona Constitution that oversees utility rates, securities regulation, pipeline safety and railroad crossings.

Owens spent 10 years on the SRP Council. The water and power utility council members serve as liaisons between the people who live in the utility territory and the board members who set rates and policies.

Owens gave up her seat at SRP when she moved out of her district to Buckeye, where she lives with her husband. They have three adult children and six grandchildren.

But she also has served since 2020 on the Arizona Power Authority, which oversees the allocation of electricity from dams on the Colorado River.

Before you vote: What's on your August 2022 primary ballot for Arizona?

Owens started career as a nurse

Owens is a second-generation Arizonan who went to Alhambra High School and attended Glendale Community College for her nursing degree. She took additional courses at Arizona State University.

She was working as a nurse when her husband joined the police force. She wanted a job that gave her more time to spend with their children, so she became the school nurse.

After that, she moved into real estate. She had done some public relations when working as a nurse for particular promotions, such as anti-drunk driving campaigns, and she began doing contract public relations work before taking a full-time job with Gordon C. James Public Relations, where she remains.

“I don’t believe you wait until the problem is at your door before you try to fix it,” she said of her draw toward public service. “I felt it was a good way to do some good for my community.”

She said regulating utilities is a balance between what rates are fair and reasonable for customers and the utilities.

“If the company itself is not run well then the ratepayers are not served well,” she said. “It deserves to have a profit. It does not deserve to get wealthy on the back of the ratepayer. The amount of profit is the question.”

Who's running for Corporation Commission? These are the candidates on the ballot

Opposed to renewable requirements

Like the other Republicans in the race, she does not support requirements for utilities to use renewable energy.

“We don’t have to look any farther than Texas when you put so much focus on renewables and you overlook the need to protect reliability,” she said.

She would roll back the renewable-energy standard if she could, though she realizes that is unlikely to ever have the support of a majority on the commission.

"When you set these standards you are saying this is what I guarantee you this is what we need and this is what will be available,” she said. “We all know there is a need to move away from fossil generation as we can," but, she said, the alternatives aren't yet reliable enough.

She said one of the reasons she wants to run is to prevent policies like the 2018 renewable-energy ballot measure, which voters rejected, from getting implemented in Arizona.

"If people didn’t understand that was a warning sign of the extent people will go to push the new green deal agenda they weren’t paying attention," she said. “This is a crucial time for the future of our state.”

“There’s a whole lot of people feeling like things would be a good idea when they are not,” she said. “Aspirational values should not be a part of public policy."

Election guide: 2022 primaries

U.S. Senate | Governor |Secretary of state|Legislature | Treasurer | County attorney |Attorney general| Superintendent | Corporation Commission | District 1 | District 3 | District 4| District 5| District 6|District 8| District 9 | City council

The other two Republicans in the primary race are running as a team, while Owens is running on her own. Voters will get two choices in the primary and general and can pick any candidates they want.

The biggest difference among the Republicans, aside from their experience, appears to be the controversial issue of utility deregulation. The Arizona Legislature this year passed a bill that removed the portions of Arizona law that allowed utilities to compete for customers, which Owens said was a good move.

“The main area where we have a big difference is on retail competition,” she said. “I do not support retail competition. We have 22 years of evidence that while it sounded like a good idea it has not proven itself to be the affordable reliable source that people thought it would be.”

Owens' current employer has done work for APS, but she said that doesn’t mean she is beholden to the utility.

She emphasizes the public relations company did not do political work for APS. Her role was mostly technical writing and website material, in addition to helping with the public information officer symposium the utility sponsors that brings together public relations officials from around the state.

“If I did not think I could ask hard questions and demand honest answers and hold people accountable I would not run,” she said, adding that asking tough questions of utilities is not any more difficult than her work as a nurse and notifying family members when someone dies in the hospital.

“There is nothing harder than walking into a room full of people … and you are going to tell them, 'I’m sorry but we did everything we could.' And then send someone in to ask for an organ donation. That is a hard job. This isn’t that hard. They (utilities) are coming into the commission and asking for something. … You are a judge. You have to be blind (like justice)."

She also said she wants to serve on the commission to improve voters' confidence in the office, which faced a host of scandals in recent years, including a former commissioner who was indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud and conspiracy.

"It’s always necessary for voters to have trust in government," she said. "We are going through a period of time now where people are very distrustful. My personal feeling is it is my responsibility to act in a way that is beyond reproach so no citizen in this state should ever have any doubt about the legitimacy of the results that come out of the commission.”

Reach reporter Ryan Randazzo at ryan.randazzo@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on Twitter @UtilityReporter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Corporation Commission primary 2022 candidate: Kim Owens