Arizona Corporation Commissioner Bob Burns is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to void last week's vote giving Arizona Public Service permission to immediately charge its customers an extra $7 a month.
Burns contends he was denied the opportunity to determine what influence APS’s campaign contributions had on his fellow commissioners, and if that tainted their vote.
"We need some way to put some kind of transparency into the money that the utility is spending," Burns said.
Burns is suing APS and it’s parent company to try to force it to reveal its political spending on Corp Comm members.
He said this lawsuit, and any precedent, is critical to providing voters and customers information on how much utilities are spending to elect the people who regulate them.