APS agrees to not shut off power when temps hit 95 degrees after heat-related death

PHOENIX – Sweeping changes are coming to the APS heat-related disconnection policy two years after the death of customer Kate Korman. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a $7 million settlement with the state’s largest energy provider during a press conference Wednesday morning.

APS disconnected Korman’s power on a 99-degree day in May 2024 due to unpaid bills. Six days later, the 82-year-old was discovered dead in her home, with heat listed as a contributing factor by the medical examiner. 

Her death came three days after the utility ended its policy of not disconnecting customers when temperatures reach 95 degrees or higher. That policy is now set to be reinstated. 

“It is obvious to me that the utilities have an obligation to, at a minimum, keep their customers alive,” Mayes said. “It is getting hotter and hotter earlier and earlier in the year, and the policy that the utilities have selected, which is a calendar-based approach, is just not adequate to protect utility customers from potential death.”

Jonathan and Adam Korman, Kate Korman’s sons, were living away from their mother when she died, according to a statement from the family.

“We were, of course, devastated when we arrived at our mom's house, as we both live out of state,” the statement read. “The thought didn't even occur to us that our mother's power company would or could disconnect a senior woman's power during such hot temperatures.”

The settlement comes as Arizona grapples with a changing heat season. Temperatures soared to 105 degrees in March when many traditional protections, like seasonal disconnection moratoriums, were unavailable. 

A television screen displaying the information from a press conference held by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes at the Arizona Attorney General's office on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Phoenix.

(Matthew Marengo/Cronkite News)

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health announced the first heat-related death of 2026 on April 10, but its public heat death dashboard and seasonal heat services don’t launch until May 1. 

Under the terms of the settlement, APS will be required to keep customers connected if the temperature is forecasted to reach 95 degrees and above or 32 degrees and below. It will also maintain its existing calendar-based disconnection hold from June 1 to October 15. While other utilities are not subject to the same policy, Mayes encouraged them to adopt it. 

“I believe it's only a matter of time before a heat-related death occurs at TEP and UniSource [Energy] and SRP, because their policies, in some cases, are even more or even worse than APS was,” Mayes said. “Those utilities that are not following the 95-degree hold policy are on notice.”

Nearly half of the settlement  – $3.4 million – will go to update the APS Safety Net Program, including text message alerts to an emergency contact when someone in the program misses a payment and taking action to encourage more customers to sign up, Mayes said. 

At the time of her death, Korman was not in the Safety Net Program.

Her sons said that they did not learn about the program “until it was too late,” according to a statement from the family.

To help customers who are behind on bills stay connected, APS agreed to allocate $1 million to the Arizona Consumer Assistance and Education Program created in partnership with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. Customers in danger of losing service will directly receive $800,000 of that money as bill credits.

A spokesperson for APS denies any wrongdoing and “strongly disagrees” with Mayes’ characterization of the company’s policies. Its shareholders will be required to pay $2.75 million to a state consumer protection fund. 

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes during a press conference at the Arizona Attorney General's office on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, in Phoenix. (Matthew Marengo/Cronkite News)

In addition to outlining the changes in a press release, the company issued a statement.

“APS rejects the Attorney General’s assertions regarding our existing disconnection policies and customer communications, which already meet or exceed all applicable state laws and regulations. Our entire team at APS prioritizes customer safety and cares deeply about the wellbeing of our customers and communities,” the statement read.

APS also reaffirmed its commitment to customer support, education and strengthening its policies.

For Jonathan and Adam Korman, the settlement is a step in the right direction to preventing heat-related deaths like their mother’s, they said in a family statement.

“Though it is extremely unfortunate our mother had to lose her life for us to see these changes,” the statement read. “We're thankful that some everyday people will see some relief this summer and onwards as it's the best way we can think of to honor our mother's life, and that is why this matters.”

This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.