PHOENIX — State utility regulators will get to question Don Brandt, the CEO of Arizona Public Service, in person. It remains unclear when.
“I will make myself available to answer your questions,” Brandt said in a personally signed letter to the five members of the Arizona Corporation Commission.
But 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 commission, said he’s willing to give Brandt more time, pointing out that the commissioners already prepared 67 questions about APS policies — notably about how, and when, it shuts off power to customers — for which they want answers.
“I don’t think that’s an unreasonable request to ask for a little more time to go through that,” Burns said.
At this point, Burns is looking at Aug. 28 to hear from Brandt.
The call for 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 $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.
The commission has 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 include inquiries about if and how APS makes contact with customers before turning off their power, and how the company typically handles cases of unpaid bills.
