By Laurie Roberts | Arizona Republic
Stephanie Pullman’s death is a disgrace. Shame on Arizona Public Service, the Arizona Corporation Commission and the Arizona Legislature.
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussions purposes only.)
If you aren’t angry today, you probably haven’t heard of Stephanie Pullman.
I’ve waited a day to write about her death trying to understand the many ways in which she was failed.
I can only come up with one word: Shame.
Shame on Arizona Public Service. The state’s largest utility – one that is pulling in record profits – cut off this 72-year-old woman on a 107-degree day because she lacked $51 to pay her bill.
I suppose Pullman’s family can take comfort in the fact that APS didn’t target their loved one. In all, APS cut off customers who could no longer pay their bills 110,029 times last year. Of those, people were left to swelter – or in Pullman’s case, die – 29,240 times in June through September.
Shame on the Arizona Corporation Commission. This toothless tiger of a regulatory agency knew within days that Pullman had died for lack of a $51 payment to APS.
It. Did. Nothing.
