The commission's Utilities Division staff is proposing modifications to the Arizona Administrative Code provisions regarding termination of service for nonpayment. Those modifications essentially would replace an emergency rule that the agency issued in June imposing a moratorium until Oct. 15 on service shutoffs for all electric utilities in Arizona.
Among the changes proposed by staff, the modified rules would prohibit utilities across the state from cutting off electric service to residential customers if a five-day forecast calls for temperatures to exceed 95 degrees F or drop below 32 degrees.
Also, each utility would be required to give at least 10 days advance notice of a planned service termination using the customer's preferred method of communication. If that period elapses and the delinquent account still has not been paid or alternative payment arrangements made, the utility then must provide the customer a final notice two days prior to the termination day.
Customers would be responsible for any bills accrued during periods when a utility is not permitted to disconnect, the commission staff further proposed.
The moratorium and the proposed limits on customer shut-offs responded to allegations that the disconnection policy of the state's largest utility, Pinnacle West Capital Corp. subsidiary Arizona Public Service Co., contributed to the death of at least one APS ratepayer.
The Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association Inc. filed comments on June 19 objecting to the moratorium on service cut-offs, saying that retaining the commission's existing authority was a better solution than the rushed emergency rulemaking. The association said that each member cooperative's service territory is located in a different climate, and some service territories span several climates. In some areas, summer temperatures do not pose a threat to customer safety, the association continued.
The Arizona Residential Utility Consumer Office wrote Aug. 20 that more permanent solutions that help ratepayers with their bills after the moratorium ends must be developed because utilities must program their systems to comply with new rules.
On Aug. 30, APS's Manager of Regulatory Affairs Rodney Ross provided figures on residential delinquent accounts showing how the moratorium on disconnects is affecting customers. APS in August 2018 said about $8 million dollars were owed on delinquent accounts, but in August 2019, the outstanding delinquent balance was $22.1 million.
This chart shows the total dollar amount of APS residential customer delinquent bills with an overlay of the total number of delinquent customer accounts |
The commission has called a special meeting for Sept. 4 to discuss APS's response to its investigation into and review of disconnection rules and policies. The companies' Chairman and CEO Donald Brandt promised to meet with regulators at that time to address their further inquiries. The commission in a July 19 letter to Brandt said it is investigating the disconnection policies of regulated entities and wanted him to appear before the commissioners to answer questions.

