**CERTIFICATION**

**Pursuant      to      Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act**

| 1.                     | I              have              reviewed the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended              June              30, 2006, of UniSource Energy              Corporation; |
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| 2.                     | Based              on my              knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material              fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements              made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were              made,              not misleading with respect to the period covered by this              report; |
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| 3.                     | Based              on my              knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information              included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the              financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the              registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this              report; |
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| 4.                     | The              registrant’s other certifying officers and I are responsible for              establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as              defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal              control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules              13e-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and              have: |
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| a.                     | designed              such              disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls              and              procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material              information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated              subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,              particularly during the period in which this report is being              prepared; |
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| b.                     | designed              such              internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal              control              over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide              reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting              and              the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in              accordance with generally accepted accounting              principles; |
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| c.                     | evaluated              the              effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and              presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of              the              disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered              by              this report based on such evaluation; and |
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| d.                       | disclosed                in                this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial                reporting that occurred during the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter that                has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect,                the                registrant’s internal control over financial reporting;                and |
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| 5.                     | The              registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our              most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,              to              the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s              board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent              functions): |
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| a.                     | all              significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or              operation of internal control over financial reporting which are              reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record,              process, summarize and report financial information;              and |
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| b.                     | any              fraud,              whether or not material, that involves management or other employees              who              have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over              financial reporting. |
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| Date:  August                8,                2006 | /s/                James S.                Pignatelli                                                                                                   |
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|                                                          |   James                S.                Pignatelli  Chairman,                President, and                Chief Executive Officer |