The Arizona Corporation Commissioners named Commissioner Doug Little as the new Chairman for the Commission. At the February 2nd, 2016 Open Meeting of the ACC, the Commissioners voted to confirm Little as Chairman. He has been acting in an interim capacity, replacing out-going Chairman Susan Bitter Smith who resigned last year.
Little ignored the fact that the Commission has been shrouded in scandal in the announcement released on Tuesday.
Little stated in the release, “Over the next 12-18 months, the Commission will tackle several large rate cases and a major hearing on distributed generation. I will be working with my fellow commissioners and our outstanding Commission staff to do the best job possible for the people of Arizona.” We are absolutely committed to ensuring a fair, balanced and comprehensive evaluation of all the issues that come before us at the Commission.”
The Chairman sets the agenda for and presides during Open Meetings and serves as the public face of the Commission.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Republic exposed the fact that newly appointed Commissioner Andy Tobin has a conflict on interest due to his son-in-law’s employment with rooftop-solar-panel-installation company SolarCity Corp. as an inventory-control specialist.
Bitter Smith was removed for a conflict of interest. The Arizona Republic reports that now Tobin “will not vote on major electric-utility cases because he faces his own personal conflict.”
Ducey in December appointed former lawmaker Andy Tobin to the five-member Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates electric and water utilities, railroad crossings and other matters in Arizona.
The scandals are such that the Commission was forced to hire an “ethics officer.”