On APS’ 9 May statement
A 9 May news story reported by Arizona’s Family 3/5 includes a long statement from Arizona Public Service.
We want to respond to APS’ evasions & deceptions.
given [⋯] unsubstantiated accusations
That’s … vague. We presume that they must be referring to us saying repeatedly that they killed our mother. That is indeed our opinion. It is not unsubstantiated:
They cut off her electricity while temperatures were in the high 90s.
She was found dead in her house a few days later.
APS hint that our mother may have died before they cut off her electricity.
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
That conflicts with another part of their own statement. (Emphasis ours.)
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.
And this misrepresents the ME’s report by implying that our mother dropped dead not from the heat but because she was a drunkard. The ME classifies her death as accidental, not natural, and names the heat as the cause of the accident which killed her.
We are reliably informed that our mother was listed on a public list of heat deaths, and that Arizona ME reports always attribute heat deaths to prior conditions as the primary cause of death, always listing “environmental heat stress” as a contributory condition.
The heat killed her, because she did not have air conditioning, because they cut off her electricity.
We regularly work with customers to find solutions to pay down their bills
They talk at length about “flexible payment arrangements”.
But this misses the point. She could afford to pay the bill. All her other bills were paid. Our reconstruction of the timeline shows why we believe she was simply unaware of the past due balance.
To obscure that, they brag about their efforts to contact our mother:
we make significant efforts to let customers know the status of their accounts
Drawing upon both our records and their own explanation to the Arizona Corporation Commission, those “significant” efforts consisted of:
Emails which did not reference the past due balance until just 14 days before the shutoff
A single robot phone call — to an incorrect number! — the following day
A single paper notice 5 days before the shutoff
Zero confirmed contact with her
They misrepresent the email they sent to our mother:
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"
This is simply not true of the emails our mother received. The first email referencing a past due balance was 30 April, 14 days before the shutoff.
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.
It is true that we did not bring concerns to APS at the time our mother died, because we misunderstood them cutting off her power as a freak misfortune, rather than reflecting a longstanding pattern emerging from policy which they knew killed people. We are grateful to the many journalists covering this story with that context.
We see a deep failure by APS — and Arizona institutions more broadly — in us needing to resort to media pressure to compel their attention to our mother’s death and the pattern which we expect will kill more people if policies and processes stay as they stand now.
Institutions which hold life and death in their hands bear a responsibility to make a proactive effort to keep people alive, by examining their processes and investigating the deaths they cause. Would we accept an airline grumbling about families turning to news media to pressure them to investigate a crash which killed their loved ones? Of course not.
The full 9 May APS statement to Arizona’s Family
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.
