By Rachel Leingang | Arizona Capitol Times
Earlier this month, Corporation Commissioner Bob Burns said he was ready to subpoena Arizona Public Service to force it to open its books and publicly disclose its spending as a way of testing the commission’s authority.
“I think it may be time for a test case,” Burns said.
The threat of subpoena drew a critical letter from Corporation Commissioner Doug Little, who said the maneuver could put the commission on “very thin legal and constitutional ice,” and could lead to “constitutional and practical problems.”
To help answer the authority question, chairwoman Susan Bitter Smith asked the commission’s legal staff to prepare an opinion on its legal ability to look at the spending on public service corporations like APS.
