Arizona Corporation Commission

The Arizona Corporation Commission is the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Arizona, established by Article 15 of the Arizona Constitution. Arizona is one of only fourteen states with elected commissioners. The Arizona constitution explicitly calls for an elected commission, as opposed to a governor-appointed commission, which is the standard in most states, because its drafters feared that governors would appoint industry-friendly officials. They are directly elected statewide and serve staggered four-year terms.

The commission has five members. As of January, 2017 the commissioners are Andy Tobin, Thomas Forese, Doug Little, Boyd Dunn, and Bob Burns.

The commission's scope of responsibility is generally larger than most commissions in other states. Some of its major duties include regulating public utility companies, regulate/facilitate the incorporation of businesses and organizations, securities regulation, and railroad/pipeline safety.

The current Chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission is Doug Little.

The chair of the Commission prior to January 5, 2016 was Susan Bitter Smith. She joined the commission in 2013.

As of 2015, the Arizona Attorney General’s office began investigating a complaint that seeks to have Bitter Smith removed from her position due to conflict-of-interest issues. As chair of the commission, Bitter Smith is in charge of regulating the telecommunications industry. However, at the same time, she works as a lobbyist for the industry, running her own public relations firm called Technical Solutions. Until recently, the company described itself on its website as a “full service government affairs services including direct federal, state and local lobbying activities with agencies ranging from the Federal Communications Commission, to the Arizona Corporation Commission, to the Arizona Legislature and Arizona municipalities.” The description from Technical Solution's website was removed after the Arizona Attorney General began investigating the complaint against her.

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