Arizona’s Family 3/5
Arizona attorney general calls for changes to utility disconnections after heat death
By Dennis Welch
Published: May 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM PDT|Updated: May 9, 2025 at 8:56 PM PDT
[This report includes video which we cannot embed here; click through to see it.]
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — With temperatures about to hit triple digits, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is cranking up the heat on APS and other power companies. Mayes is calling for the state to modernize how it handles service disconnections during the hottest part of the year.
The attorney general says Arizona needs stronger regulations to keep the public safe. She’s now pressuring the state’s top utility regulator to ensure that power companies prioritize people over profits.
“It’s the responsibility of the utilities at the very minimum that people don’t die because of the actions that they’ve taken,” Mayes said during this week’s taping of Politics Unplugged.
Mayes addressed the death of Kate Korman, the 82-year-old who died last year after APS shut off her power on a near-100-degree day. At the time, she owed the company $500.
“This is a company, APS, that made $500 million each of the last two years in profit, Dennis, and so it’s not okay,” the attorney general told Arizona’s Family political editor Dennis Welch.
APS said they tried contacting Korman 10 times about her unpaid utility bill. Currently, the company is barred from disconnecting power from June 1 through Oct. 15. Because Korman died in May, Mayes wants that policy changed.
“So I’m calling for the commission to change its disconnection policies from a date-based policy to a heat or temperature-based policy, both on the cold side and on the heat side,” Mayes said.
Mayes has now sent a letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission demanding an investigation into how power companies handle disconnections. The attorney general is the former chairwoman of the state commission that regulates utilities. At the very least, Mayes said that companies like APS should have to cover the costs of customers’ unpaid bills in life and death heat situations.
“Again, APS made $500 million in profits, so they can afford to eat some of this, and I would expect any ethical corporation would. And any ethical Corporation Commission would require them to eat some of it,” the attorney general said.
Mayes also said the Corporation Commission and the power companies should consider long-term payment plans to prevent heat-related deaths.
Full satement provided by APS
Out of respect for a tragic and complex situation, APS has refrained from providing the public with detailed information about Ms. Korman’s circumstances. However, given recent news coverage and unsubstantiated accusations, we felt the need to provide additional information.
Before doing so, we again want to express our condolences to the family and reiterate:
Disconnecting power is a last resort, and we make significant efforts to let customers know the status of their accounts and offer assistance through a variety of channels, including written communications, phone calls and monthly bills.
We regularly work with customers to find solutions to pay down their bills, including giving them more time to pay with flexible payment arrangements, as well as other programs.
This can include partial payments, extended payment arrangements, crisis bill assistance, state & local assistance programs, and a partnership with The Salvation Army.
Additionally, we offer Safety Net or Guest Role programs, which allow friends and family to actively watch or manage a loved one's account to ensure they do not fall behind on payments.
We want to provide additional context in response to recent public statements.
The timing of Ms. Korman's death is unclear and at present appears to be unresolved.
According to the Maricopa County Sheriff Office's incident report, Ms. Korman had not been seen or heard from by family or a neighbor for a week or more prior to the May 13, 2024 disconnection of her service, despite attempts to contact her.
The report notes that a neighbor shared that Ms. Korman hadn't shown up to brunch in the past two weeks and that her son last spoke to her approximately two and a half weeks before her body was found on May 19, 2024.
Per the medical examiner's report, while heart disease and environmental heat stress were noted as 'contributory conditions', Ms. Korman's cause of death was due to "complications of chronic ethanolism," otherwise known as alcoholism.
Ms. Korman's family did not reach out to APS regarding her death or to express concerns until almost a year later and after recent media reports.
As we have shared, we communicated directly to Ms. Korman 10 times through email, phone, a physical door hanger and monthly bills to let her know the status of her account and to offer assistance beginning in January of 2024 after her last payment. This includes outreach the day after power was disconnected to again urge Ms. Korman to contact us.
Our records show there was no response and the only engagement, including payments, made by Ms. Korman since mid-2023 was to make a payment in January 2024.
We have provided detailed information about our outreach and Ms. Korman's account history to her son and the offices of the Arizona Attorney General and the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Points of Clarification
We want to provide additional context around reported account information.
Media reports have noted that Ms. Korman was on AutoPay.
AutoPay is a program available to customers who maintain their account in good standing. Multiple notifications are provided with returned payments and removal from the program.
This is what occurred with Ms. Korman in mid-2023.
She was enrolled in paperless billing and had been receiving e-bills via email for a long time.
APS sends customer communications to the contact information provided by the customer such as email address, phone number and/or street address.
A door hanger was logged as delivered to the residence on May 8, 2024.
There were questions about email subject lines on past-due and disconnect notifications. When a customer is past-due our subject lines state:
"Past due notice – Please make a payment today"
"Your electric service is scheduled to be disconnected"
"Final notice to pay your past due balance"
"Your APS service has been disconnected"
As this situation is being played out publicly, we appreciate the opportunity to respond and clarify. We don't share these details lightly as we know a family is grieving.
We care about the safety and wellbeing of our customers. The disconnection policy was established following an extensive public process that included input from utilities, community members, and consumer advocates. We are committed to working with our regulators and other stakeholders to continuously improve our processes and programs to support our customers.
— Arizona Public Service
