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Lea Marquez Peterson told Capitol Media Services on Monday that the “accountability and answers� about what caused or contributed to the death of Stephanie Pullman of Sun City West last year have to come from APS.

But Marquez Peterson, named to the commission just a month ago, said the response she got from the agency’s own staff was “lacking a lot of information.�

Marquez Peterson said there is the possibility of a connection between the rate hike granted by the commission to APS in 2017 — a deal in which the commission’s own staff was one of the parties who agreed to the deal — and Pullman’s death.

Marquez Peterson questions whether she and the public can rely on the answers provided so far by the staff to her and other commissioners about the whole incident.

That also includes answers that are yet to be provided to what happened — as well as recommendations for how to alter the rules to prevent a similar situations in the future.

“I think an independent group that wasn’t involved in the rate case, a third party, would be the best ones to address these different questions,� Marquez Peterson said.

She acknowledged that she’s “new to this process.�

“But from my perspective there’s always been such a cloud over APS and the different issues that come before it,� she explained.

“To truly be transparent, it should be a third party that answers and investigates what the processes are, what are best practices and submits a report back to the commission,� she said. “We need to understand what the existing process is and what we can do to make it better to protect consumers.�

Commission Chairman Bob Burns said Monday he agrees with the goal, but isn’t sure that having an outsider review the practices of the commission staff is useful.

“What are we going to gain by that?� he asked. “I mean, hindsight is pretty good stuff.�

And Burns said he fears that any outside probe of the commission staff itself will divert attention.

“The real problem is APS,� he said, saying the power company has been “reaching in� to the commission “with all the money they’ve spent on elections.’

“They’re the ones on offense,� Burns said.

One of the outstanding issues is why it took a year — and an inquiry by the New Times — to make public that the 72-year-old Pullman died in her home of heat-related complications after the utility cut her power after she paid just $125 of her $176 bill.

“This is simply unacceptable,� Marquez Peterson wrote in her request for the outside inquiry.

“We must work to change the culture here and restore public trust,� she continued. “Initiating a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ms. Pullman’s death, as they relate to the commission, would be a strong first step in the right direction.�

Marquez Peterson specifically wants to know who on the commission staff knew about the death last year and who else that staffer told.

“If other staffers were notified, was there ever consideration that commissioners may also want to be notified?� she asked in her formal request for an outside inquiry.

Marquez Peterson wants to know whether commission staffers or APS were aware of any other instances where a customer whose power had been shut off was subject to hospitalization, injury, failure of a medical device or other related incident.

And she wants to know how the rules appear to say that utilities can disconnect service only in conjunction with “a personal visit to the premises by an authorized representative of the utility,� yet it appears what happened in Pullman’s case was that an outside contractor for APS hung a notice on the door.

“Does a ‘personal visit’ mean an attempted contact at the premises, or does an actual contact and interaction have to take place to satisfy the requirement?� Marquez Peterson asked. “Has the commission ever considered resolving these questions?�

Burns, for his part, said Marquez Peterson, in calling for an outside investigation to answer her questions, is ignoring the obvious.

“Maybe she needs to have a conversation with Mr. Brandt about why we didn’t get notice from the company when it happened,� he said, referring to Don Brandt, the chief executive of Pinnacle West Capital Corp., the parent of APS.