**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                    March 31, 2006, of UniSource Energy                    Corporation; |
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| 2. | Based                    on my                    knowledge, this quarterly 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                    quarterly report; |
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| 3. | Based                    on my                    knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information                    included in this quarterly 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 quarterly                    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 quarterly 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 quarterly report based on such evaluation;                    and |
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|   | d. | disclosed                        in                        this quarterly 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:  | May                    5,                    2006 | /s/  James                    S.                    Pignatelli                     |
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|   |                                              |    James                    S.                    Pignatelli   Chairman,                    President,                    and Chief Executive Officer              |