The newest state utility regulator wants an outside investigation of the heat-related death of an Arizona Public Service customer and the policies of the Arizona Corporation Commission and the actions of its staff that may have contributed to that.

The Arizona Corporation Commission voted to require electric companies to give those who fall behind up to four months after Oct. 15 to repay their outstanding balance. But it bars the utilities from charging interest or late fees.

Taken by surprise by reports that an elderly woman died a heat-related death after her power was cut off last summer, state utility regulators are now moving to curb the ability of electric companies to shut off power during the hottest months of the year.

As a result of fiscally responsible governance, Arizona is nationally known for an unrivaled business climate that has experienced soaring growth in recent years.

Having burned through $28 million in a pair of losing political battles in Arizona last year, California billionaire Tom Steyer is now prepared to pump some more cash into the state.

Electricity is among the most political of commodities, and everyone has her favored form of power, with a constellation of advocates to promote it. Too often, wishful thinking masquerades as fact and political sloganeering substitutes for intellectually rigorous policy analysis. Utility regulators have a challenging set of responsibilities as they sift among the claims of these competing interests.

Arizona Public Service’s parent company received federal grand jury subpoenas for documents related to the 2014 elections at least a month before APS released similar documents to the Arizona Corporation Commission.

The state’s largest electric utility admitted late Friday that it gave $10.7 million to organizations that spent heavily in the 2014 race for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates energy companies.

More than two dozen local elected officials are facing personal fines for their official opposition to a 2018 ballot measure on renewable energy.

State utility regulators are making another bid to find out how much money the state's largest electric utility is spending on political campaigns and lobbying.