Arizona Public Service and its parent company Pinnacle West were heavily involved in the 2016 campaign season — investing money on certain candidates in specific races.
And it’s commonly believed APS was just as engaged in the 2014 races, even those involving its potential regulators on the Arizona Corporation Commission. But there isn’t any official evidence about 2014.
Now APS has come out publicly to say it will remain involved in political campaigns going forward, but it will also be more open about its contributions. No one from APS would talk to us, but APS spokeswoman Anna Stewart sent a statement which reads in part …
“On Friday, we released a final, comprehensive report of the company’s 2016 political contributions. Those contributions, and our political participation policy, are posted to our website for public review. This voluntary report goes beyond our legal requirements to provide additional information about our contributions. We have also updated our policy to strengthen our commitment to transparency.
The statement continues: “Pinnacle West supports organizations and issues that further our mission of creating a sustainable energy future for Arizona. 2016 was a challenging political year, with out-of-state interests keen on taking advantage of Arizona electricity customers through ballot initiatives and at the polls; our efforts were focused on not allowing that to happen. As always, all contributions were funded by the shareholders of Pinnacle West, and not by APS customers.”
One person who has followed APS’ political contributions closely is public-interest attorney Tom Ryan.
