APS-backed group sues over energy initiative

A group funded by the state’s largest utility is suing to keep a clean-energy initiative off the ballot.

Arizonans for Affordable Electricity, a political action committee whose funding comes from Arizona Public Service Co. parent company Pinnacle West Capital Corp., claims proponents of the clean-energy plan did not gather enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona, backed by San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer, turned in more than 480,000 signatures, more than double the required 225,963 signatures need-

ed to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot, in early July.

The ballot measure seeks to require utilities to get 50 percent of their power from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2030. That percentage would constitute a dramatic increase from current state goals.

But, the APS-backed group claims, in a lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, that more than 300,000 of the submitted signatures are invalid.

Among the alleged reasons for invalidity:

❚ The group says more than 195,000 of the signatures were from people who aren’t registered to vote in Arizona, which is required to sign a petition.

❚ More than 74,000 signatures were on petition forms that were improper or not notarized, the APSbacked group claims.

❚ More than 20,000 signers didn’t include their full name.

❚ Nearly 13,000 people signed the petition more than once, the group claims.

Less than 106,441 signatures are valid, the group claims, which would leave the clean-energy measure well short of the requirement.

The APS-backed group has repeatedly hammered the clean-energy campaign online and in robocalls over signature gatherers who had criminal records, warning people not to sign the petitions out of a fear of identity theft.

The signature gatherers with criminal records collected a negligible number of signatures. The lawsuit says only 168 signatures were collected by people who had felonies, which is not allowed under Arizona law unless the person has had his or her rights restored.

The APS-backed group said it hired experts in handwriting analysis and petition fraud to review the signatures.

The group has spent nearly $6 million with a signature-gathering company, but did not appear to gather any signatures and declined to say where the money was spent.

The group said its experts found markers of fraud, such as signatures not matching voter registration forms and signatures that look the same as other signatures submitted by the same gatherer.

“Based on the blatant fraud and obvious defects found among these signature petitions, it is evident the initiative campaign made a calculated decision to submit everything in hoping it would overwhelm any review process,” Arizonans for Affordable Electricity spokesman Matthew Benson said.

The lawsuit also challenges the title and text of the initiative, saying it’s misleading, and says the incentives for signature gatherers weren’t proper.

Rodd McLeod, a Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona spokesman, said APS has already spent millions to try to keep the measure away from voters.

“How much deeper will they reach into their customers’ pockets to pay their corporate lawyers to file delusional lawsuits?” McLeod said.

McLeod said the campaign knew it would need a cushion of signatures to ensure it would have the required amount to qualify for the ballot, which is why it turned in double the threshold.

“We’re confident that the 480,000 Arizonans who signed produced enough valid signatures to get us on the ballot,” he said.