Corp Comm starts new plan on power cutoff ban

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The Arizona Corporation Commission took an important first step to creating a permanent rule change on utility companies shut-off policies that stemmed from the death of a 72-year-old woman in 2018.  

It’s been roughly two years in the making, but the Commission voted 3-2 late Wednesday night after 16 hours of open meetings across two days to establish the first step in the new plan.  

Chairman Lea Marquez Peterson joined the two Democrats – Anna Tovar and Sandra Kennedy – to set the standard for banning utility shut-offs when the outside temperature reaches 95 degrees. Republican Commissioners Justin Olson and Jim O’Connor voted against the change.  

Olson voted no because he had concerns over customers bearing a greater debt burden. 

Consumer activist Stacey Champion, whose work and research uncovering utility shut-offs that led to deaths of customers launched this process at the Commission, said that consumers would rather bear a debt than die.  

She said the science and research shows that when the temperature is 95 degrees or higher, people will die when their service is cut off for various reasons. She advocated for a 90-degree threshold, but relented that the Commission was at least making progress.  

Ultimately, no changes voted on this week are permanent until they go through the full rulemaking procedures so until there’s a final vote sometime in the not-too-distant future, the utilities will still follow the temporary rules. Those rules are to ban shut-offs for nonpayment between June 1 and October 15.  

The biggest victory for those fighting for the new rules is that the Commission all agreed to not follow the National Weather Service’s weather advisories to determine excessive hot or cold weather.   

The 3-2 vote on April 14 also increased the minimum threshold for late payments – $300 for electric bills and $100 for gas.  

It’s expected to have a final vote in the fall after one more open meeting with public comment.