AG Mayes reacts to the 82-year-old woman whose power was switched off

The Attorney General of Arizona, Kris Mayes, urges answers to the death of an 82-year-old woman whose power was separated last year.

Mayes sat down to speak to ABC15, just a few days after she had sent a formal letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission to update her separation rules and request an investigation of the death of Kate Korman 2024 in May 2024.

“It is only tragic and frankly unacceptable that we still see deaths in connection with pension companies that separate the electricity and power of people these days,” said Mayes in an interview with ABC15.

The Sun City West woman was found dead in her house in May last year. The Arizona public service had eliminated its electricity six days earlier due to missed payments. At that time, the temperatures floated around the three -digit digits.

“This has to be examined. Number one, what happened?” Said Mayes. “How did it happen?”

The Commission regulates many of the state's major supply companies and APS. In an explanation, the Commission announced at the beginning of this week that it is now investigating the separation procedures that were led to Korman's electricity.

“The only thing that would be appropriate is a very complete, strict examination of what happened,” said Mayes. “It must also be public and it has to be in the form of a hearing.”

She said the commission had to change its rules in connection with separation. It prefers a temperature -based approach rather than the calendar -based approach used by the state's largest supply companies.

APS is currently prohibited to close the electricity from June 1 to October 15th. In May, after her son asked the Sheriff of the Maricopa County, her son asked to think about his mother. Koran's two sons recently went to the stock exchange with their history.

Mayes said if the Commission banned the pension company to switch off power when it reached 95 degrees or more, “then I think Kate Korman would probably still be alive.”

According to Mayes, the change in the separation rules is particularly important, since the average average temperatures in the Phoenix area, especially in spring, are in the field of Phoenix.

“It will be 100 degrees now in April,” she said. “And it's 100 in October.”

Mayes said she also encouraged the Commission to check special rules for people who are older people, vulnerable and weak in income.

A medical examiner report says that Korman's cause of death is complications of chronic ethanolism. The report states that “environmental heat stress” was caused by exposure to high temperatures.

Mayes said she was “almost safe”, there are “other Kate Kormerans out there”.

“I think it's almost a matter of time to discover, and it will probably happen to other supply companies,” she said.

In an explanation, APS said that his condolences ended with Korman's family. They say that they take extensive steps to communicate with customers who do not pay for their bills. The steps they take exceed what state supervisory authorities demand, APS said.

In Koran's case, APS said that there were several attempts to reach her via the status of your account, including telephone calls, emails and a hanger on May 8th at your door. They said they did not answer and none of APS made personal contact with her.

The statement continues:

“We take care of the security and well-being of our customers. The separation policy was determined according to a comprehensive public process, the input of supply companies, community members and consumer representatives. We strive to work with our supervisory authorities and other stakeholders to continuously improve our processes and programs to support our customers.”

ABC15 requested interviews with all five chosen commissioners at the Arizona Corporation Commission. Nobody agreed to go in front of the camera. However, the Commission submitted an explanation after ABC15 was asked to answer the letter from the Attorney General:

The Commission received two inquiries: one from Adam Korman on May 1, 2025 and one by Jonathan Korman on May 2, 2025. The department for the Commission's pension companies is now investigating the separation procedures in connection with the death of May 2024 in May 2024 of her mother, Kate Korman. The request initiated by a customer.

The commission's declaration did not deal with the application of the Attorney General to update his general separation rules.

Mayes said on Friday that she had not yet heard from the Commission.

“I will continue to take the bird dog, bird dog the providers and it to be accountable in every conceivable way to ensure that people do not die,” she said.

E -Mail ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at: anne.ryman@abc15.comCall them at 602-685-6345 or connect to X, formerly known as Twitter and Facebook.