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I am anchor
CEO of Arizona Public Service appears primed to speak with utility regulators
Posted
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX — State utility regulators are going to get to actually see and hear from Don Brandt.
But it remains unclear when the chief executive of Arizona Public Service actually will show up.
“I will make myself available to answer your questions,” Mr. Brandt said in a personally signed letter to the five members of the Arizona Corporation Commission. And Mr. Brandt said he will be “the appropriate senior subject matter experts.”
But Mr. Brandt told regulators he’s not sure he can be ready to answer all their questions by Aug. 7, the date they set to hear from him. So he is asking for “additional time to fully prepare the answers to your extensive questions.”
Bob Burns who chairs the panel, said he’s willing to give Mr. Brandt more time, pointing out that the commissioners already have prepared 67 questions about APS policies — notably about how and when it shuts off power to customers — for which they want answers. And that doesn’t count others that are likely to emerge.
“I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request to ask for a little more time to go through that,” Mr. Burns said.
In fact, he said, a delay might actually work to the commission’s advantage, setting the appearance for a date when, unlike Aug. 7, there is nothing else on the agenda.
At this point, Mr. Burns said, he is looking at Aug. 28 to hear from Mr. Brandt.
The call for Mr. Brandt to testify follows disclosure that an APS customer died last year after the company cut power to her Sun City West home after she paid just $125 of her $176 bill. An autopsy said Stephanie Pullman’s death was heat related.
APS has since disclosed that it has reached settlements with the survivors of two others in similar circumstances. And the commission has temporarily suspended the ability of utilities to cut power to customers between June 1 and Oct. 15 while it studies the issue.
The questions already prepared for Mr. Brandt cover not just what happened to Ms. Pullman but broader inquiries about if and how APS makes contact with customers before pulling the plug and how the company typically handles cases of unpaid bills.
