By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media via Arizona Capitol Times
The Arizona Supreme Court court won’t intercede to overturn the just-approved 3.3 percent rate hike approved for the state’s largest electric utility.
In a brief order Tuesday the justices rejected a bid by Bob Burns, one of the members of the Arizona Corporation Commission, to overturn the decision by his other four colleagues in favor of the increase for Arizona Public Service. Burns argued that the process followed by his colleagues did not comply with statutory and constitutional requirement for a full airing of all relevant issues before they voted.
But Tuesday’s order does not end the fight.
Burns still has another case pending in Maricopa County Superior Court. There he is asking Judge Daniel Kiley to rule that he was entitled to subpoena APS executives and their records as part of the inquiry to determine if the company was really entitled to collect an additional $7 million a month from customers. A hearing on that case is set for later this week.
