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Utility oversight panel won't OK APS election spending query

Posted at 6:37 AM, Jun 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-21 13:15:56-04

Four Arizona Corporation Commissioners have rejected a request from the fifth member to allow him to subpoenas records of political spending by the state's largest utility.

The commissioners rejected Republican Bob Burns' request on Tuesday. Burns has been seeking records that could detail spending by Arizona Public Service Co., and its parent company for nearly two years. 

The utility openly spent millions on the 2016 elections that saw Burns and two of the other four Republican members elected. But it has never confirmed nor denied it spend $3.2 million two other members in 2014.

The Arizona Capitol Times reports Burns can now go back to court to seek disclosure. A judge ruled in May that he needed to be rejected by the commission before a court could intercede.