An unusual Arizona Republican primary is being shaped by a battle over the closed Cholla plant, with two incumbent utility regulators taking fire from the right after opposing a coal revival pushed by President Donald Trump.
What's happening?
Republican Arizona Corporation Commission incumbents Kevin Thompson and Nick Myers are seeking another term, stressing their conservative records at the agency that regulates much of the state's utility industry, KJZZ reported. At the same time, state lawmaker Ralph Heap has made the retired Cholla power plant a signature issue in his effort to defeat one of them in the GOP primary.
That fight intensified after President Donald Trump said last spring he was directing Energy Secretary Chris Wright "to save the Cholla coal plant in Arizona." Arizona Public Service had already shut the plant because it could no longer satisfy federal pollution standards.
"Most people have come up to me about the Cholla project," Jan Shank, vice president of Sun City Grand Republican Club, told KJZZ.
Even so, Arizona now gets only a small share of its electricity from coal. U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows coal provides less than 10% of the state's power, compared with nearly 40% a decade ago.
Why does it matter?
The commission's decisions shape what kind of energy Arizona buys, how much pollution nearby communities face, and how much customers ultimately pay on their monthly utility bills.
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Thompson said Arizona regulators told the White House that bringing Cholla back as a coal plant would be prohibitively costly without federal backing, according to KJZZ. APS estimated the cost of meeting pollution rules at nearly $2 billion.
The argument over that expense is unfolding as Arizona's largest utilities are already seeking double-digit rate increases.
What's being done?
Cholla is not coming back as a coal plant for now. APS said this month it plans to remake the site into a natural gas plant instead, a move supported by Trump-aligned figures, including Congressman Eli Crane and Congressman Andy Biggs, according to KJZZ.
Biggs wrote on social media: "This is great news for rural Arizona and our electric grid."
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Thompson and Myers say they support an "all of the above" strategy that includes natural gas, nuclear power, and renewables such as solar. Critics on the left argue that the approach still weakens efforts to advance cleaner energy. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, solar and battery storage accounted for more than 90% of new U.S. energy capacity in the first quarter of 2026.
Thompson's response was more direct: "I can't, as a commission we can't, put $1.9 billion on the backs of 1.4 million ratepayers for APS. … The math don't math."
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