Attorneys for the Arizona Legislature have interpreted a code of ethics the Arizona Corporation Commission put in place as unconstitutional.
The code of ethics was in response to dark money funneled by utility companies like Arizona Public Service to elect the commissioners who regulate those utilities.
It was approved by a Republican majority but does not specifically say the utilities cannot contribute to commissioners’ campaigns — only that the commissioners must be transparent about receiving the money when deciding on cases involving those utilities.
APS CEO Jeff Guldner has already said the company will no longer fund campaigns of regulators, but regardless, this latest interpretation is viewed by some as a separation of powers issue between the Corporation Commission and the state Legislature.
Court Rich is an attorney at Rose Law Group and an avid Corporation Commission watcher.
The Show spoke with him to learn about this latest move.
