Arizona’s public utilities commission will pay for one of its commissioners to defend himself against the state’s largest utility.
On Thursday, Commissioner Bob Burns found himself in the awkward position of needing his fellow commissioners to green light the money for an attorney in a lawsuit they were against. It’s widely believed that Arizona Public Service or its parent company spent about $3 million in dark money to help get two current commissioners Doug Little and Tom Forese elected during the 2014 election.
After repeated request, Burns subpoenaed the utility, which then promptly sued him, calling it harassment and unlawful. The regulatory agency's rules prohibited Burns from using the commission's in-house counsel to represent him.
At the meeting, Little said he was deeply concerned about writing a “blank check” that could amount to millions of dollars "on an action that I believe could have been avoided by reasonable people that were truly interested in finding some reasonable solution.”
Forese went further, citing the allegation by APS that Burns could be using the lawsuit to support his re-election campaign. He and Little both floated the idea of a legal cap for Burns of $100,000, but eventually relented and promised to reevaluate the legal costs after a month.
"From all the information that I have in watching the campaign, it's my understanding that if you wanted to there are others you could go to fund a legal defense fund," Forese told Burns. "You seem to have opted not to do that and are coming to the commissioners who would use taxpayer dollars to pay for this."
A pro-solar group connected to Solar City spent more than half a million dollars through independent expenditure to support Burns during the GOP primary.
Burns rejected Forese's suggestion: "As an elected official, I believe I have the expectation to be represented by the government. That's the way it works."
He also promised to use the commission's money responsibly. APS has said it will use every legal means possible to fight the subpoena, and commissioners speculated the case could end up at the Supreme Court of the United States.
“I have a long history of being very frugal with the taxpayers' money, and I would continue to do this through this case," Burns said. "So to say this is a blank check is a misrepresentation.”
The commission ultimately voted 4-to-1 in favor of paying for an attorney.
Commissioners also discussed the possibility of a settlement taking shape, but so far there is no stay in the case.
