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PHOENIX – Arizona's utility regulators informed utility regulators Wednesday at the launch of a hearing on power cut-off rules and political spending from the largest company of electricity from the state.
Chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission, Bob Burns, said that APS had orchestrated a broad plan to take control of the commission by influencing voters and sowing discord among commissioners and the staff. He said the plan was described in a "game notebook" written by Jessica Pacheco, who was then working for a political consulting firm and is now the vice president of external affairs for the electricity company.
He urged Jeff Guldner, who will take over at Pinnacle West Capital Corp.'s parent company in November, to pledge never to get involved in corporate commission campaigns during his campaign. mandate.
"For me, the root cause of all this is the large amount of money spent by APS to attempt, in my opinion, to seize the commission," Burns said.
Guldner objected, saying that it would come back to the commission after he took the lead in the job.
"I'm not in the role yet, Mr. President, so I'm not able today to answer that question," Guldner told Burns.
Earlier this year, the APS detailed millions of dollars of political spending to help elect its favorite regulators in 2014 and 2016 and to defeat a 2018 voting move. These expenses were a break from a decades-old practice adopted by state utilities of not interfering in political races involving its regulators.
APS admitted to donating money to groups that had spent $ 3.2 million on commission races in 2014, while she refused for four years to confirm or deny her participation in the elections. .
The utility also spent $ 4.1 million to influence the 2016 election of its regulators and nearly $ 40 million to defeat a citizen's initiative last year that would have forced to draw more of its energy from solar energy and other renewable sources. APS had previously acknowledged these contributions.
In 2017, with a majority of the commission elected with the help of APS funding, the commissioners approved a tariff increase for the public service. The price increase was sharply criticized after many customers had seen their bills increase considerably more than the average of 4.5%.
Democratic Commissioner Sandra Kennedy has been particularly tough in her questions, saying that Don Brandt, CEO of APS and Pinnacle West, behaved as "a key pillar who operates a business primarily for his own account".
"You have, in essence, created a machine to buy all the elected and overcome all the obstacles," Kennedy told Brandt.
Brandt said the political activity and lobbying of the APS was the norm for a company like APS
"APS lawyer, Bill Maledon, revealed that a federal criminal investigation into political spending was still ongoing. Maledon said that APS officials were expecting this to end soon. He did not specify what he was, explaining that it was forbidden for the company to discuss the details of the investigation because of the rules of confidentiality imposed by the grand jury and agreements made with the investigators.
The FBI and the US Attorney's Office in Phoenix are investigating expenses incurred in the 2014 elections to the position of Secretary of State and Corporate Commission, and APS revealed that it has received subpoenas in connection with with the survey.
"The company is cooperating with the US Attorney's Office in this investigation," said Maledon. "They do not protect him in any way."
The commissioners asked Brandt and other APS leaders to appear before them and answer questions after hearing that Stephanie Pullman, 72, of Sun City West, had died a few days later. days after his power had been unplugged, within 107 degrees. In response to last week's written questions, Brandt revealed that APS only disconnects electricity when customers need at least 50 USD. Pullman owed $ 51.84.
"How do you feel about knowing that one of your clients died for only $ 1?" Democratic Commissioner Sandra Kennedy asked Brandt.
Brandt said she was confident that APS customer service managers would have worked with Ullman to avoid turning off the power if she had called. APS does not aim to disconnect customers, he said.
"It's a tragedy that anyone, including this customer, has lost their lives," Brandt said.
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