PHOENIX β The stateβs largest power company filed suit late Friday asking a judge to quash subpoenas a utility regulator issued for some of its records.
Arizona Public Service and Pinnacle West Capital Corp., its parent company, say thereβs no legal basis for the demand by state Corporation Commissioner Bob Burns for documents showing what the company has spent on political donations, charitable contributions and lobbying expenses.
An attorney for the companies, Mary OβGrady, also said there is no reason the Arizona Corporation Commission needs the information, because money used for those expenses is not passed on to APS customers in the form of higher rates.
She also claims a constitutional right of her clients to keep the information secret. OβGrady said the First Amendment not only protects free speech but also includes the right of individuals and corporations to make political or charitable donations.
In a separate filing Friday with the commission, Barbara Lockwood, an APS vice president, said the fact that Burns is targeting only APS and Pinnacle West in demanding the information is discriminatory. She said this is βevidence of Commissioner Burnsβ intent to harass.β
Burns has focused on the companies because their spokesman has repeatedly refused to confirm or deny that APS or Pinnacle West were the source of any of the $3.2 million in anonymous donations poured into the 2014 commission race to help elect Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little. Other utilities have said they stayed out of that race.
The lawsuit comes less than a week before the Sept. 15 deadline that Burns set for the documents to be delivered to the commission, and less than a month before Burnsβ demand that Don Brandt, the chief executive of both firms, answer commission questions under oath.
OβGrady, in a separate letter to Burns, said APS β but not Pinnacle West β will deliver βa significant amount of documents identified in the subpoenasβ by the Thursday deadline. And she said those deemed confidential also will be furnished, subject to βexecution of an appropriate confidentiality agreement.β
She emphasized, however, that this does not mean the company is waiving its legal right to challenge the subpoenas.
Burns, in a brief statement late Friday, said he is studying the companiesβ lawsuit and its response to his subpoenas before deciding what to do next.
The legal battle stems from the questions Burns raised about the role of APS and Pinnacle West in a βdark moneyβ campaign in the 2014 race. Both the Free Enterprise Club and Save Our State contend they are βsocial welfareβ organizations, free to help elect or defeat candidates but exempt from state campaign finance laws that require disclosure of donors.
So Burns is instead trying to use his authority over the utility.
Lockwood, in her letter, suggested Burnsβ motive is political.
He is running for another four-year term this year on the commission. The deadline he set to interview Brandt comes just a week before early voting begins for the general election, Lockwood noted.
βCommission Burns is clearly campaigning on the disclosure issue with references on his election website to βmy battle with APS,ββ Lockwood wrote.
