State regulators say Arizona Public Service did not violate disconnection rules when the company shut off power last year to an 82-year-old woman’s home.
Kate Korman was found dead days later in her Sun City West home.
The Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates many of the largest utilities, told ABC15 in a statement that its inquiry into Korman’s case has been completed.
“Staff thoroughly evaluated the events that led up to the termination of service at Ms. Korman’s address and has verified that the utility followed the rules for termination of service.” The commission said “no violations” of the commission’s rules occurred.
The commission launched an inquiry in May after receiving requests to review the matter from Korman’s two sons, Adam and Jonathan.
Jonathan Korman told ABC15 he’s not surprised by the commission’s decision.
“It demonstrates the failure of the rules,” he said. “Those rules killed my mother. They will kill again. So they are the wrong rules. The commission should be looking at changing those rules.”
Kate Korman’s death has received widespread attention since the family went public with their story earlier this year. The tragedy has prompted debate over how utility companies disconnect customers for non-payment.
Currently, many large utilities like APS are prohibited from disconnecting electricity from June 1 through October 15. Those rules became permanent in 2022 after a 72-year-old Sun City woman died after her power was disconnected in September 2018.
“We know weather does not obey the calendar,” Jonathan Korman said. “Why are we setting the rule according to the calendar instead of according to the weather, since the heat is what kills people?”
APS has said Kate Korman had not paid her bill since January 2024. They said they made multiple attempts to contact her. When she didn’t respond, her power was shut off in mid-May 2024.
The temperatures hovered in the triple digits around that time. A medical examiner’s report says Korman’s official cause of death is complications of chronic ethanolism. The report says "environmental heat stress" contributed, caused by exposure to high temperatures.
Jonathan Korman said he and his brother were unaware their mother had missed paying her bills. He said she had signed up for auto-payment and believed she thought her payments were automatic.
Local leaders have also pushed the Arizona Corporation Commission to overhaul its disconnection rules to be temperature-focused instead of calendar-focused.
“This was avoidable if the commission had a mandatory requirement that the utilities cannot shut off people's power when it hits 95 degrees or more, or when it's below 32 degrees, then I believe that Kate Korman would probably still be alive,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told ABC15 in an interview earlier this year.
In a statement Wednesday, Mayes called on the commission to make its investigation into Kate Korman’s case public. She said her office continues to review the circumstances that led to Kate Korman’s death.
“Functioning air conditioning is a matter of life or death in Arizona. The Commission’s current utility disconnection policy is unacceptable. The longer the Commission delays updating its disconnection policy, the more likely it is that another Arizonan dies in their own home,” Mayes said in the statement.
As for Korman’s sons, they continue to push for change.
“I stand ready to have this conversation with anyone and everyone,” Jonathan Korman told ABC15. “I do not like doing this. But it needs to be done. So I want to continue to fight to have the rules changed so that it keeps the next person alive.”
He said he hopes there will be statewide legislation introduced that will lead to the commission being forced to change its disconnection rules.
In a statement Wednesday, APS said the well-being of customers “is a top priority, and our goal is to work with customers to help avoid disconnection. We cooperated fully with the Arizona Corporation Commission's (ACC) inquiry and we also conducted our own thorough review of the steps we took to communicate and reach out to Ms. Korman.”
“If a customer falls behind in payments, we make numerous contact attempts, in excess of ACC requirements, including informing the customer of their account status and offering assistance through a variety of channels.”
“It’s important for customers to know we will work with them to find solutions to pay down their bill, including giving them more time to pay with flexible payment arrangements, partial payments, and other assistance programs.”
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook.
