Meet Jonathon
Born in Kingman and raised in Phoenix, Jonathon Hill has lived, studied and worked in Tempe since 2000.
Passionate about space exploration since childhood, Jonathon earned degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Geological Sciences and Russian from ASU, culminating in the defense of his PhD in Spring 2022, which focuses on studying salt deposits on Mars left over from a period when Mars was more similar to the Earth.
For the past 17 years, Jonathon has worked as an engineer and scientist at the ASU Mars Space Flight Facility, operating ASU's camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft and ASU's instruments on the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers. He has also provided engineering and scientific support to the University of Arizona's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission and NASA's Clipper mission, which will explore Jupiter's frozen ocean moon Europa.
Jonathon is running for the AZ Corporation Commission because he believes the commission needs members with technical backgrounds in order to successfully regulate Arizona's utilities.
Support
Technical Leadership
The AZ Corporation Commission's most important duty is to ensure safe, reliable, and affordable utility services throughout Arizona. However, none of the current commissioners have science or engineering backgrounds, which is critical for understanding the challenges and opportunities facing Arizona's public utilities. Jonathon Hill will bring this much needed expertise to the commission.
The Issues We Face
Solar Jobs
Arizona is rich in opportunities for solar energy generation, both utility-scale power plants and home-based panels. We should support this emerging industry that generates power and creates jobs here in Arizona, rather than sending our money to other states.
Clean Elections
Jonathon is running as a Clean Elections candidate, so the people of Arizona will know exactly where his campaign funds have come from and can be certain that he is not being influenced by special interests.
Cybersecurity
Public utilities are increasingly coming under attack by both amateur and professional hackers, which puts the public at risk of major service disruptions. Jonathon will work with Arizona's utility companies to make sure they are taking the proper precautions to protect their computer systems from hackers and training their employees to recognize and prevent computer network breaches before they affect our public utilities.
Small Non-Profits
In addition to small businesses, small non-profits play a vital role in our society. They care for the less fortunate, provide informal and formal education to people of all ages, and provide support for those in need. Jonathon believes that the Corporation Commission should be doing more to streamline the process of creating and maintaining small non-profits in order to allow them to spend more of their time on the important work they do for our communities.