The question of whether utility regulator Bob Burns gets to grill the top executive at Arizona Public Service and review the company's political spending could depend on the meaning of the word "and.''
The Arizona Constitution says "the Arizona Corporation Commission, and the several members thereof," have the power to "inspect and investigate" the books of any corporation whose stock is sold in Arizona. An APS attorney asked a judge to interpret that as applying to the commission as a whole — at least by majority vote — and not any one individual commissioner.
But Bill Richards, who represents Commissioner Burns, disagrees. He said if the constitutional right to demand records and issued subpoenas referred only to the entire commission, then there would be no need for the language mentioning the individual commissioners. And Richards said that's not the way constitutional provisions are read. He said it’s crucial since Burns wants to find out if APS and its parent company funneled money to elect two current commissioners in 2014.
"Having used their superior financial resources to capture the commission majority the APS parties now have nothing to worry about from the lone commissioner they didn't capture whenever they seek a large rate increase like they did this past year," Richards said.
The company admitted it put another $4.2 million into last year's campaign. The judge has given no indication when he’ll rule.