They Published the Receipt

A corporate-funded PAC called “Arizonans for Responsible Growth” launched an attack site last week calling us the “Rate Hike Slate.” It names me and my wife Sara by name. Polished graphics, scary language, the works.

We expected that. When you run against the establishment in a utility election, the establishment fights back. What we didn’t expect is that they’d publish the entire donor list on their own website — with logos, dollar amounts, and tiered sponsorship levels — like it was a charity gala.

So we read it. And then we read it again. And then we started looking up every single company on the list.

Here’s what we found.

The Donor Wall

Go to azforrg.com/supporters right now, before they take it down. You’ll see a tiered sponsorship page — the kind you’d see at a golf tournament or a hospital fundraiser. They even named the tiers. The top one? They called it “Nuclear.”

Here’s who’s on it:

$50,000+ — Willmeng Construction. A commercial general contractor that builds data centers. Their own website shows projects for Digital Realty Trust. Their CEO hosts industry events about data center power demand with APS and SRP.

$25,000+ — Google. Operates data centers in SRP territory. Pays roughly $6.08 per thousand gallons of water. You pay $10.80.

$25,000+ — VW Connect. A utility installation company that connects power, gas, and electric to new developments. They list SRP as a partner on their LinkedIn page. More development means more meters means more revenue.

$25,000+ — ViaWest Group. A real estate developer with over $3.1 billion in acquisitions. Just broke ground with Willmeng on a $107 million industrial project in Phoenix.

$10,000+ — EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure. A data center company with a $1.9 billion campus in Mesa. At full build-out, their facility will consume 450 megawatts — enough power for over 300,000 homes.

$10,000+ — Douglas Allred Company. A commercial real estate developer. Uses Willmeng as their general contractor. Major projects across Chandler and Phoenix.

$10,000+ — Suntec Concrete. A concrete contractor that lists “Data Centers” as a market sector on their own website.

$5,000+ — Coe & Van Loo Consultants. A civil engineering firm that designs site infrastructure for commercial and industrial developments.

$5,000+ — Rummel Construction. Heavy civil earthwork — mass grading and site prep for large-scale commercial and energy projects.

$1,000+ — Withey Morris Baugh. Phoenix’s top-rated land use law and lobbying firm. They get zoning approvals and entitlements for major developments. The Phoenix Business Journal ranks them as the city’s largest lobbying firm.

$1,000+ — Kieckhefer Properties. Commercial property owner in the Southeast Valley.

$1,000+ — Paceley Constructors. Commercial general contractor.

That’s 13 companies. Count the ratepayers on that list. Count the neighborhood associations. Count the community organizations. Count the individual voters.

Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero.

The Supply Chain

This isn’t random. Look at the list again and you’ll see the entire lifecycle of a data center project:

Google and EdgeCore need data centers built. ViaWest and Douglas Allred buy and develop the land. Withey Morris Baugh lobbies city hall for the zoning. Coe & Van Loo engineers the site plans. Willmeng, Rummel, Suntec, and Paceley do the construction. VW Connect installs the utility hookups.

Every single link in that chain gave money to one PAC. That PAC is picking candidates for the board that approves data center power contracts, sets water rates for data center customers, and decides how much of the infrastructure cost gets passed to you.

They’re not buying influence. They’re buying the entire decision-making body.

What They Get

SRP controls two things data centers need: water and power. Lots of both.

EdgeCore’s Mesa campus alone will demand 450 megawatts at full build. For context, SRP’s total system capacity serves about a million customers. Every megawatt committed to a data center is a megawatt that has to be generated, transmitted, and managed — and when demand outpaces supply, guess who pays for the new infrastructure? You do.

Meanwhile, data center operators negotiate bulk water rates that residential customers don’t have access to. Google’s facilities use water for cooling. SRP delivers that water. The rate they pay is not the rate you pay.

The companies on that donor wall aren’t spending $50,000 out of civic duty. They’re spending it because the return on investment is enormous. A friendly board means favorable rate structures, streamlined approvals, and continued expansion — paid for by the ratepayers who had no idea this election was even happening.

Why They Need a PAC

SRP board elections have historically had tiny turnout. Most people don’t even know they happen. The races are off-cycle, mail-ballot only, and don’t show up on your normal county ballot. You have to specifically request one.

That low turnout is a feature, not a bug, for the companies on this list. A few thousand votes can swing a district. A well-funded PAC with polished attack sites and Turning Point USA yard signs can dominate a race that most voters will never hear about.

That’s the play. Spend $168,000+ through a PAC. Flood the zone with signs. Launch attack websites. Suppress turnout on the other side. Win board seats. Protect your water and power contracts for another four years.

What We’re Doing About It

Sara and I are running for SRP Council in District 6. We’re two people with a mortgage in this district, an SRP bill that keeps going up, and a rooftop solar system we installed because we got tired of rate hikes. We don’t have a PAC. We don’t have a lobbying firm. Our average donation is about $50.

As of today, 56 people have chipped in to fund counter-signs. Regular people. Our neighbors. Not a single corporation.

We can’t outspend 13 companies. But we can make sure every voter in District 6 knows exactly who’s paying for the other side — because they published the receipt themselves.

Request your SRP ballot

See who’s funding the opposition — Follow the Money

Fund a counter-sign — NotOurWater.org/signs

---

Paid for and authorized by John Travise Campaign Committee and Sara Travise Campaign Committee.