State of Arizona’s Transparency-Determined Utility Regulator Suing Regarding Customer Rate Increase

By Catherine J. Frompovich

Something very unusual and interesting has happened within the political sphere of Arizona state politicking:  “a utility regulator is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to void last week’s vote giving the state’s largest electric utility permission to immediately charge its customers an extra $7 a month.” [1]

According to published reports, Regulator/Commissioner Bob Burns is calling for the Court immediately to void the rate increase due to its being a violation of his rights and the constitutional duties of the other commissioners.

Wow!  Applause, applause, applause.  Finally, a public utility commissioner who understands, believes in, and works to uphold the constitutional rights of everyone affected by the four-to-one vote of the Arizona Corporation Commission [2] and which Commissioner Bob Burns is protesting.

Burns contends, “…any precedent set — is critical to providing voters and ratepayers information on how much utilities are spending to elect the people who regulate them.” [1]

“There hasn’t been interference or participation or whatever the proper term is of utilities in elections at the rate that APS decided to get into them up to this point,” he said.

“That includes the company’s admission it spent $4.2 million last year to elect a commission of its liking and questions about how much of $3.2 million filtered through “dark money” organizations that refuse to disclose their donors spent in the 2014 campaign came from the utility.” [1]

The admonition “follow the money” seems to apply, or ought to apply, especially when the following took place:

Company officials will neither confirm or deny they are the source of those dollars. But Pinnacle West in a 2015 statement to shareholders, all but admitted it played a financial role in that race, saying that spending by solar leasing companies on behalf of “anti-APS” Democrat candidates caused the firm to “reevaluate” how it would protect what it said were its interests and those of its customers and shareholders in the political process.

It was trying to get to the bottom of that 2014 spending Burns said, that led him to subpoena Brandt and company documents — the subpoenas that the other four commissioners quashed. [1] [CJF emphasis]

The question everyone who is having problems with their respective state utility commissions, whether it be rate hikes or AMI Smart Meter issues, e.g., no opt-outs, needs to be asking is: Have similar “money talks” shenanigans been going on, and ongoing, in order to keep public utility commissions not so honest!

Personally, I wonder how much money utility companies contributed to key Pennsylvania state legislators’ re-election campaigns.

That’s something a consumer advocacy committee needs to look into at every state level, especially in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where a vested interest case is quite apparent and obvious in Consumer Affairs Chairman Robert Godshall, who prevents opt-out bills from passing into law since at least 2009.

Godshall’s son, Grey, works as a Project Manager for Exelon/PECO, the utility which is emotionally brutalizing customers with harassment techniques and threats of power turn off within a couple of days, or slapping new AMI Smart Meters on homes without the homeowner even knowing it!

One PECO Philadelphia customer was out of town on business; had a formal complaint filed with the PA PUC, which had not been resolved yet; and still PECO retrofitted an AMI Smart Meter while she was out of town, thereby depriving that customer of her federal and state Constitutional rights, plus granting PECO a “defacto” PA PUC decision!

Folks, the seemingly dirty politicking that goes on regarding AMI Smart Meters in numerous states, where there are no opt-out provisions, just may need more investigating into “follow the money,” as seems to be a significant factor in Arizona.

References:
[1] http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2017/08/22/bob-burns-sues-to-void-aps-rate-increase/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Corporation_Commission

Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.

Catherine’s latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Don’t Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com.

Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.

Two of Catherine’s more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008)

Catherine’s NEW book: Eat To Beat Disease, Foods Medicinal Qualities ©2016 Catherine J Frompovich is now available