Arizona utility agrees to bar shutoffs for nonpayment during extreme heat

Arizona utility reaches deal to keep power on during dangerous heat forecasts

Arizona’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service, agreed not to cut off electricity for nonpayment when forecast high temperatures reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) or above, according to a settlement announced by Attorney General Kris Mayes on Wednesday.

Mayes said the deal was prompted in part by a 2024 death after APS disconnected a customer’s power for nonpayment during an extreme heat day. She said the settlement is intended to ensure that customers are not left without electricity when temperatures become dangerous.

The settlement, reached with APS, includes a total of $7 million. Mayes said $2.7 million will be deposited into a state consumer protection fund, and another $3.4 million will go toward improving a program that lets customers designate family members or friends as emergency contacts who can receive disconnection and delinquency notices.

Mayes said her office brought the lawsuit after concerns about how disconnections were handled during extreme heat. She cited the death of Katherine Korman, who lived in Sun City West, and said Korman’s service was cut off in mid-May 2024 for nonpayment even though the day’s high temperature in her area was about 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius).

Mayes said Korman was found dead six days after her power was disconnected. Her office said APS made 10 attempts to contact Korman by phone, email, door hanger and monthly bills to explain the status of her bill and offer help, and APS said regulators later determined the utility complied with the rules for customer outreach and disconnection.

Mayes said in a statement that the agreement addresses what she described as a calendar-date approach to shutoffs. “No Arizonan should be at risk because they cannot afford their electric bill,” she said. “This settlement ensures that APS will no longer disconnect power based on the date on the calendar alone – if temperatures are dangerous, the power stays on.”

APS said it did not acknowledge wrongdoing as part of the settlement and said it already met or exceeded state laws and regulations governing disconnection practices and customer communications. “Our entire team at APS prioritizes customer safety and cares deeply about the well-being of our customers and community,” the utility said.

The agreement also specifies that the payments must come from APS shareholder funds, and it says those payments cannot be recovered in future rate cases or through surcharges. Douglas Clark, executive director of the Arizona Corporation Commission, said the consent agreement makes clear the payments are outside the regulatory framework and “will not be passed on to ratepayers.”

Separately, Maricopa County officials, which include Phoenix, have reported significant heat-related deaths in recent years. The AP report said the county confirmed 430 heat-related deaths last year, down from 608 in 2024 and 645 in 2023, and that the first confirmed heat-related death in 2026 was announced last week.