Arizona’s Family 3/5 news report
Published: Apr. 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM PDT|Updated: 47 minutes ago
SUN CITY, AZ (AZFamily) — With cuts to federal programs that help provide air conditioning to people in need, one Valley family says more needs to be done to protect our most vulnerable.
In May 2024, Jonathan Korman said his mom Kate Korman was found dead in her Sun City home, days after her electricity was shut off. She was 82 years old and living alone in a retirement community.
“She died baking in the heat in her own home because the electricity she needed for air conditioning was cut off and it killed her,” Jonathan said.
According to the utility company, Arizona Public Service (APS), Kate stopped making payments toward her electric bill in January 2024. After ten attempts to contact her, they turned her power off on May 13.
“We thought this was some kind of fluke. Just a weird tragic mistake and it was only this year I learned in fact that there is a pattern,” Korman said.
Data from Maricopa County shows Kate was the 15 out of more than 100 heat-related deaths that occurred indoors in the county in 2024. Out of those deaths, nearly 70% were cases with A/C present but not on or functioning within the home. “It can send people to an early grave. Absolutely,” said Democratic state Rep. Mariana Sandoval, who represents the portions of the West Valley and Yuma
Sandoval and others voiced their concerns outside the Arizona State Capitol on Tuesday about these deaths amid recent cuts to federal aid programs like the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
“People on low fixed income, especially seniors or single moms that can’t afford to pay their utility bill, they can use this program to pay that bill,” Sandoval said.
This month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services terminated the entire staff that allocates funds for the program, which state leaders said may leave those most vulnerable, like Kate Korman, at risk. “Things are going to get worse for everyday people here,” Sandoval said.
APS does have assistance programs that can help those in need. They use LIHEAP, but these federal cuts have not impacted state-funded programs.
