Fox 10 Phoenix
You can see much more of the mortifying X/Twitter exchange mentioned in this article archived on this site — Jonathan
Family wants answers after Sun City woman died when her power was shut off
By Marc Martinez Published May 1, 2025 8:18am MST
The Brief
Kate Korman, 82, died last May after power was shut off to her Sun City home.
Arizona Corporation Commission Vice Chair Nick Myers got into a heated exhange with Korman's sons on social media regarding her death.
APS says Korman was months behind on her electric bill and tried to contact her before shutting off her power.
SUN CITY, Ariz. — A Sun City woman's death set off a social media storm. An Arizona Corporation Commissioner got into a heated exchange with the family of an elderly woman who died after her power was shut off last year.
What they're saying:
"What he said was callous and cruel," Jonathan Korman said. "He blamed me and my brother and my mother for her death. He said that not only did he defend APS, the people who he supposedly providing regulatory oversight over, he defended APS."
The son of 82-year-old Kate Korman is reacting to recent comments made on social media by Arizona Corporation Commission Vice Chair Nick Myers.
Korman died in her Sun City home last year. That's when her sons learned that APS had turned off her power. At the time, she was more than three months behind on her electric bill.
"My mother died baking in her hot house," said Jonathan. "You know, she died from the heat."
Jonathan blames the utility for contributing to his mother's death.
"We're not talking about something that we don't need," Stacey Champion said. "Like these are life-saving utilities in the state of Arizona."
Champion, a community advocate, has been tracking heat-related deaths in Arizona and has pushed for statewide utility disconnect rules.
She took to social media, asking how many times APS spoke directly to Korman prior to disconnection, noting that heat was listed as a factor in her death on the medical examiner's report.
This set off a string of responses from Myers. He responded by saying he doesn't "feel it is a utililities responsibility to keep everyone alive."
Korman's son then got into the social media conversation, saying if she had power, she wouldn't have died.
In another post, Myers told Adam Korman he failed to protect his mother. He went on to say "alcoholism killed her, not the utility."
Jonathan responded: "My mother did not just drop dead one day because she was a drunkard. APS cut off her electricity. She was without air conditioning while temperatures were in the 90s in the shade. After a few days, she was dead."
Myers issued a statement, apologizing to Korman's family: "I extend my heartfelt condolences to Ms. Korman’s family, friends, and loved ones during this difficult time. My comments on social media were intended to address my views on the current termination of service rules. I apologize for any harm my comments may have caused the family. That was not my intent. The views and opinions I expressed on my personal social media account were my own and not those of the Arizona Corporation Commission."
The apology was not welcomed by Korman's sons.
"It is clear that APS do not care to take care with the lives in their trust," said Jonathan. "It is clear that their entire process is broken because it does not protect people."
The other side:
In a statement to FOX 10, APS said they "care about the safety and well-being of our customers, and we are here to help them," in regard to Korman's power being shut off. They say they attempted to reach her 10 times via email, phone calls and door hangers, and provided information about how to help pay her bills.
APS says they never received a response from Kate Korman.
The Source
Information for this story was gathered from social media posts on X, an interview with Jonathan Korman, and statements from Arizona Corporation Commission Vice Chair Nick Myers and Arizona Public Service.
