Lea Marquez Peterson at the inauguration of Gov. Doug Ducey on Jan. 7, 2019.
By Dillon Rosenblatt | Arizona Capitol Times
Clean energy advocates in Arizona watched four years of work essentially go down the drain as the Arizona Corporation Commission killed its own standards the body had initially approved several months earlier.
The standards would set a carbon-free and solar-friendly future for the Grand Canyon State by 2050 and it received bipartisan support with a 4-1 vote in November, only to see it fail on a final vote 2-3 on May 5.
The Commission saw two new members take office since the initial vote last year, but it was one of the four yes votes who changed her mind and is being painted as the de facto villain of killing the effort. That person is Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson, a Republican.
Marquez Peterson, along with two Republicans and her current colleague Sandra Kennedy, a Democrat, voted in favor of setting the rules as mandates only to see Marquez Peterson agree to water it down, losing Kennedy and Democrat Anna Tovar’s support.
