Arizona SRP Board Elects First Pro-Clean Energy Majority After Turning Point Campaign Falls Short

Arizona's Salt River Project board has elected a pro-clean energy majority for the first time in its 120-year history, dealing a significant blow to conservative group Turning Point Action.

The clean energy slate now controls an eight-to-six majority on SRP's Agricultural Improvement and Power District board, which oversees energy policy and customer rates. The result marks a dramatic shift in Arizona's utility governance and signals changing voter priorities on energy issues.

"This is probably the first election in my lifetime when energy would probably make somebody's ranking list of the things they care about," said Autumn Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association.

Turning Point Action launched an unprecedented localized campaign to prevent a clean energy majority, investing heavily in get-out-the-vote efforts that began in the summer of 2025. The group spent its resources on the president, vice president, and at-large board seats, while clean energy candidates focused their efforts on the acreage seats in voting areas 4, 6, and 8.

The Turning Point strategy paid off in only two seats — holding onto the board's president and vice president positions and two of the seven other board seats. But the clean energy contingent won the remaining seats, creating the first pro-renewable energy majority in the organization's history.

"Turning Point made this election about them," said independent consultant Chuck Coughlin. "It is a very poor time to be associated with the president with his poll numbers where they are, and they became the turnout mechanism."

The Board Results

The clean energy victory came despite massive investments by Turning Point, which executives described as a "huge turnout" effort. In posts on X, Turning Point executives declared victory despite falling short of their original goal.

"Democrats had told donors this was the inevitable year they would win President and Vice President of SRP and control the agenda. They failed massively with a huge turnout," Tyler Bowyer of Turning Point stated. "Ballot chasing works!"

But the reality on the ground tells a different story. The board's president, Chris Dobson, will set the board's agenda, but his vote will be part of the minority. Barry Paceley will serve as non-voting vice president and will primarily fill in for Dobson in case of absences.

Jimmy Lindblom, a local construction executive who formed a political action committee to support conservative energy candidates, admitted defeat on the acreage seats.

"First, we congratulate Chris Dobson and Barry Paceley on their victories for President and Vice President," Lindblom said in a statement. "While we are encouraged by their leadership, we are disappointed by the results in several other board races."

A Moderate Victory

The clean energy win came with an unexpected twist — the board's new president is not what Turning Point had portrayed him as. Autumn Johnson, who runs the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association, noted that Dobson isn't known as an anti-Green New Deal extremist.

"(Turning Point is) acting like a Donald Trump person won … (Dobson) is a moderate, he has developed wind projects on his own land, he spoke at my solar conference two years ago," Johnson said. "The guy is not like a fringe, right-wing guy."

The results suggest Turning Point spent too much time and energy on the president and vice president seats, while the clean energy candidates devoted their efforts to the acreage seats where they ultimately succeeded.

"Parts of the SRP campaign were super good, affordability, reliability, cost of power. They had solid messaging all around the deck," Coughlin said. "But it didn't matter, because Turning Point became the issue, and that turned out gobs of people who have never voted in an SRP election ever."

Why It Matters

SRP is a nonprofit subdivision of the state that provides water and power to more than 2 million people throughout the Valley, from Chandler and Scottsdale to Goodyear and Peoria. The utility is regulated by a board made up of landowners within its service territory — many of whom are descendants of the farmers and ranchers who put up their land as collateral to ensure the construction of the Roosevelt Dam in the 1900s.

The April 8 election results represent more than just a policy shift. They reflect growing voter concern over soaring utility bills and a willingness to take action on energy policy.

"This is probably the first election in my lifetime when energy would probably make somebody's ranking list of the things they care about," Johnson said.

The SRP results could foreshadow outcomes in the upcoming November elections, according to political analysts. The fact that voters waited hours to vote for a utility governance board suggests significant enthusiasm that could translate to state races.

"People waiting two and a half hours in line to vote for a utility governance board should make people pretty concerned about the amount of fervor that's going to be around the November election," Johnson said.

Unique SRP Election System

SRP elections operate under a uniquely arcane system created before Arizona was granted statehood. Only around 40,000 of the utility's 2 million customers can vote, and only some of those eligible voters can vote in both association and district elections.

Landowners are entitled to a certain number of votes based on acreage, except in the case of the district's at-large board members who are elected under a one-landowner, one vote system. Voters elect a president and vice president to oversee both the association and district.

"SRP elections are uniquely arcane, thanks to a voting system created before Arizona was granted statehood, meaning only around 40,000 of the utility's 2 million customers can weigh in on its leadership," the Arizona Capitol Times reported.

The utility is regulated by two organizations: the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association and the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District. Only landowners can vote in SRP elections and only some of those eligible voters can vote in both association and district elections.

Broader Implications

The SRP board election comes as two seats on the state's other utility oversight board, the Arizona Corporation Commission, are also up for grabs this year. Johnson said the SRP results should put those candidates — four on the Republican side, including two incumbents, and two on the Democratic side — on notice.

But the results should also serve as a reflection of "pent-up angst" that voters seem especially willing to take out on Republican candidates, not just in Arizona but across the country.

"It's a very poor time to be associated with the president with his poll numbers where they are, and they became the turnout mechanism," Coughlin said.

The SRP results signal a rebuke of the Turning Point brand and an increase in voter interest in energy issues. As utilities become increasingly central to daily life and economic development, voters may be more willing to take action on governance that affects their bills and reliability.

The clean energy victory on the SRP board represents a significant moment in Arizona's political landscape. It marks the first time a pro-renewable energy majority has controlled the utility's governing board in its 120-year history, and it comes as energy costs continue to be a growing concern for Arizona residents.