Judge: Arizona utility doesn't have to reveal its political spending, for now

PHOENIX — A judge is refusing to force the state’s largest electric company to turn over its records of political spending to a utility regulator, at least not yet.

In a new order, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Kiley did not address the assertion by Bob Burns that he has powers as a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission to compel the production of documents by Arizona Public Service and parent company Pinnacle West Capital Corp.

But the judge said it is premature for him to rule on Burns’ request that he order the records produced. Instead, he said, Burns first needs to ask the full commission to compel the utility and its parent to produce the documents.

Only after the commission rules on that request, Kiley said, will it be appropriate for him, as a judge, to intercede.

The ruling is at least an interim victory for APS and Pinnacle West, which have objected to giving Burns the documents he wants — documents he said will show whether the companies were behind more than $3 million in anonymous donations that led to the 2014 election of Republicans Tom Forese and Doug Little to the commission.

But Kiley also rebuffed a bid by APS attorney Mary O’Grady to dismiss Burns’ lawsuit outright. Instead, the judge put the case on the back burner to see what happens next.

“An order staying these proceedings would respect the commission’s authority to consider enforcement of the subpoenas in the first instance just as much as a dismissal would,” he wrote. Anyway, Kiley said, keeping the case alive would be more efficient for all sides rather than forcing Burns to have to start over again, from scratch, if his plea to his colleagues goes nowhere.

There’s a decent chance that will end up being the case. Other commissioners appear anxious to put the whole question of what happened in 2014 in the rear-view mirror.

“His fight with APS is an obsession,” Forese told Capitol Media Services on Tuesday, calling it “misdirected” given everything else going on at the commission, notably the indictment of former regulator Gary Pierce and accusing him of accepting money from the manager of Johnson Utilities in exchange for his vote on some rate-hike matters.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“I haven’t changed my position on this at all,” said Commissioner Andy Tobin, who has opposed Burns’ subpoena efforts. “No one’s been able to convince me of a better argument to agree with Bob.”

Burns said he wants to consult with both his attorney and his policy adviser “and find out what my next move is.” He said he understands why Kiley does not want to intercede, at least not at this point.

“You have to establish a record,” Burns said. But Burns said he remains adamant that he will get the information he wants, sooner or later.

He is specifically questioning how APS and Pinnacle West, which is pretty much wholly dependent on APS customer revenues for its profits, are spending money not only to influence elections but also to hire lobbyists and even dole out charitable contributions.

“I want to know whether it benefits ratepayers and when it benefits the company,” Burns said.

The difference is crucial: Expenses that benefit ratepayers, in general, can be passed along in the form of higher bills; those that do not have to be paid out of shareholder earnings.

Central to the legal dispute are questions about what role Pinnacle West and APS played in the 2014 election.

What is known is that the Free Enterprise Club and Save Our State Now together put $3.2 million into getting Forese and Little elected. What is not known is the source of those funds

.