| Utility Regulators Approve Money for APS Fight |
Utility Regulators Approve Money for APS Fight
Last month, Burns issued subpoenas to APS and its parent company seeking information related to their political spending. Burns and others suspect APS and Pinnacle West Capital Corp. are the source of $3.2 million in 2014 that helped elect Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little to the commission. Pinnacle West owns APS and virtually all of its income is derived from the regulated utility that serves more than 1 million customers. Last Friday, APS in turn filed a motion to cancel those subpoenas and charge Burns for the utility's attorney fees. "Arizona law does not require the disclosure he demands," APS Vice President Barbara Lockwood wrote in a letter to the commission. Burns asked the commission's executive director to hire an attorney for the case. The staff lawyers for the commission told Burns they could not represent him because it creates a conflict for them. Three of the other commissioners voted with Burns in favor of hiring an outside attorney. Bob Stump was the lone vote against the effort. Burns noted that the commission has paid extensive fees for attorneys to represent commissioners in other matters, and seemed to be referencing the recent case of Stump, who fought a public records battle with a clean-energy group over access to his deleted text messages. Forese said it was "completely inappropriate" for Burns to compare his entanglement with APS with Stump's issues with his texts. MORE: Regulator Tom Forese to run for state treasurer in 2018 | Roberts: APS must be thrilled with Forese's run Both Forese and Little, the chairman, said they were concerned the cost of the legal defense could skyrocket, particularly if APS appealed the matter all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which the company has indicated it is willing to do. "We don't have a budget to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars," Little said. They both said they would monitor the ongoing legal expenses. They proposed some form of cap on the expense, but Burns and Commissioner Andy Tobin opposed such a limit. "I think there is a good chance the state prevails," Burns said. "If we don't go into this in a strong position, we stand the chance of losing."
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Ryan Randazzo, The Republic | 
Arizona's utility regulators on Thursday approved hiring an outside attorney to represent Corporation Commissioner Robert Burns, who is being sued by Arizona Public Service Co. because the company doesn't want to disclose its political spending.