Arizona Attorney General investigation

We started speaking out about our mother's death because we learned she was one of many people Arizona utilities killed by cutting them off in deadly heat. Arizona Corporation Commissioner Nick Myers' callous public comments showed literally deadly refusal of institutional responsibility. The Attorney General's initiative gives us hope that uncovering the policies, processes, and decisions which killed my mother will compel change which saves lives.

The Arizona Attorney General’s office has called for the Arizona Corporation Commission to investigate our mother’s death. A key excerpt for AG Kris Mayes’ letter:

I was disturbed to learn that APS disconnected Ms. Korman's service on May 13th when it was 99 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and that outdoor temperatures regularly exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the days before Ms. Korman was found dead in her home.7 I was likewise surprised to hear that APS voluntarily stopped disconnecting residential customers on May 16th, more than two weeks before the Commission's June 1st disconnection moratorium. Ms. Korman may still be alive if APS had stopped disconnections just three days earlier.

The foregoing compels me to request that the Commission undertake a public investigation of APS' actions before and after Ms. Korman's death and initiate a stakeholder process to modernize the Commission's utility disconnection rules.

The Commission should undertake a public investigation into APS' role in Ms. Korman's death.

Arizona's founders created the Commission to regulate public service corporations in the best interest of consumers and imbued the Commission with robust investigatory authority to do so. Even individual Commissioners can exercise these investigatory powers.

The apparent lack of action by this Commission regarding Ms. Korman's death is notable, especially when compared to previous Commission efforts to investigate fatal customer disconnections.