Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

Torunn Randich flew halfway around the world just to attend a job fair for the Phoenix Union High School District. Now an 11th-grade English teacher at Carl Hayden High School, Randich, 38, was teaching in the United Arab Emirates at the time.

The solar advocacy group The Alliance for Solar Choice will voluntarily stay out of Arizona Corporation Commission elections due to a request from regulators last week.

The Kyl Center for Water Policy opened last November at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Since Sarah Porter was hired as director in January, she and her team have set out to resolve the long-standing issue of determining the nature, extent and relative priority of water rights in Arizona. The process is known as general stream adjudication.

Arizona Corporation Commissioners Susan Bitter Smith and Bob Burns want public service corporations and other entities, including solar companies, to “voluntarily refrain” from making campaign contributions that affect Corporation Commission races.

A prominent lawyer is seeking the removal of energy regulator Susan Bitter Smith from the Arizona Corporation Commission and is set to formally accuse the commissioner of violating the state’s conflict of interest statutes.

Rural San Tan Valley area residents were left in a lurch late last month when a water utility shut off a standpipe they used to fill water tanks and hydrate their families, pets and homes.

Arizona Public Service will move forward with its proposal to more than quadruple the monthly fee charged to homeowners with solar panels now instead of waiting until next year when regulators will evaluate the company’s entire rate structure.

The Arizona Corporation Commission is expected to decide tomorrow whether a fee on Arizona Public Service solar customers can be handled now or should be pushed back to become part of a rate case in 2016.

Rep. Rick Gray, R-Sun City, is running for a seat on the Arizona Corporation Commission. Gray filed paperwork today to run for the office.

If you’re a lawyer named John Johnson, you might end up in the Arizona Legislature. A review of the Arizona Capitol Reports database of everyone who has served in the Legislature since Statehood shows 103 Johns or Jonathans and 11 Johnsons.