APS head backs his critic in Arizona Corporation Commission race

PHOENIX — The head of the state’s largest electric utility is suing Bob Burns . But he wants to keep Burns as a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission for another four years.

In an email letter to employees of Arizona Public Service obtained by Capitol Media Services, Don Brandt acknowledged he has “disagreements” with Burns.

But Brandt wrote that he still prefers Burns — along with his fellow Republican candidates Andy Tobin and Boyd Dunn — to the Democrat contenders. Three seats are available in the election.

Burns has been outspoken in his demand that APS and parent company Pinnacle West divulge whether either was the source of $3.2 million in anonymous donations to groups working to elect two other Republicans to the commission in 2012. He said the funding — the company won’t deny it was the source of the money — taints the commission’s reputation and causes the public to question its decisions.

When company officials balked, Burns issued a subpoena; the two firms responded by filing suit to block the move.

Brandt wrote of Burns, Tobin and Dunn, “These three candidates would be far better for Arizona, for electricity customers, and for our ability to provide safe, reliable and affordable service while running our business well and earning a fair rate of return for our shareholders.”

And what of Democrats Bill Mundell and Tom Chabin?

“Based on the steady flow of vicious, misleading, anti-APS rhetoric from the other candidates in the ACC race, it’s difficult to believe they could regulate any utility impartially,” Brandt wrote.

That drew an angry reaction from Chabin.

“I promise to be fair,” Chabin said — but not by simply giving APS or any other utility what it wants, he added. “A corporation commissioner should be a skeptic. I think that’s what the constitution calls us to be.”

Chabin said the proper skepticism includes finding out whether APS or its parent put more than $3 million into the earlier race.

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He said it also includes monitoring the salaries paid to company officials. The most recent corporate filings show that Brandt, as chairman of the board, president and chief executive of both Pinnacle West and APS, had total compensation for 2015 of more than $9.3 million.

“Now, if all that is necessary to deliver electricity to someone’s home, all right,” Chabin said. “I think a commissioner should be a skeptic and question every cent that’s paid.”

Burns, for his part, said he doesn’t know what to think of Brandt’s endorsement. Nor is he willing to speculate whether being backed by the head of the companies he has attacked will undermine his appeal to voters.

A recent poll showed Burns with more backing than any of the other four contenders, though more than half of the voters questioned had yet to make up their minds on the race.

The race also presents an unusual situation: People can vote for up to three contenders, the number of seats to be filled, but there are only two Democrats in the contest. Mundell and Chabin are running as a ticket.

SolarCity, involved in its own fight with APS over charges for customers who generate their own power, already has put $140,000 into mailers supporting Burns and Mundell. That’s on top of nearly $700,000 it spent on Burns’ behalf to get him through the five-way Republican primary.

Burns said while Brandt may want an all-Republican commission, he’s not sure that’s in his own best interests. “I’ve got pretty strong support from the Democrats on one issue,” he said — meaning the subpoena.

The four other Republicans now serving on the ACC have not been supportive of Burns’ subpoena. But Mundell and Chabin have promised to provide Burns the necessary votes if they get elected.

Brandt has a different focus. He wants to reduce the amount of money APS has to pay to purchase excess power generated by homeowners from their rooftop solar units, as well as impose a “demand charge” that would determine a customer’s bill by not just the amount of energy used overall but how much was used at any one time. That is based on contentions by APS and other utilities that solar customers are being subsidized by other ratepayers who cannot afford to install rooftop generators.

Mundell and Chabin have scheduled a news conference for Monday, Oct. 17, to blast Brandt for trying to influence the election by sending out the email to APS employees.