R E S I D E N T I A L U T I L I T Y CO N S U M E R O F F I C E

www.azruco.gov
____________________________________________________________________________________
1110 WEST WASHINGTON

SUITE 220

PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85007

PHONE: (602) 364-4835

Douglas A. Ducey
Governor

FAX: (602) 364-4846

David P. Tenney
Director

September 9, 2016
Scott Peterson
Executive Director
Checks and Balances Project
1820 North Fort Myer Drive
Suite 510
Arlington, Virginia 22209
Re:

Public Records Request for Lon Hubers Text Messages

Dear Mr. Peterson:

On behalf of the Arizona Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO), I write in
response to your August 4, 2016 letter, in which you renew[ed] [your] request that
[RUCO] provide expeditiously the content of all of [Lon] Hubers text messages as
requested in [your] Oct. 20, 2015, records request. That October 20, 2015 request was
for text messages and other written communications that discuss solar energy, net
metering, distributed generation or rooftop solar with any representative of Arizona
Public Service, Tucson Electric Power, Salt River Project, Edison Electric Institute,
American Legislative Exchange Council or Arizona Corporation Commission from April
1, 2013 through the date of [your] request. As you acknowledge in your letter, on
December 3, 2015, RUCO provided you with copies of records responsive to the
request.
As you know, Mr. Huber is not presently a RUCO employee, but instead is a consultant
with whom RUCO has contracted. RUCO does not provide Mr. Huber with a mobile
phone, nor did it do so while he was an employee. As such, RUCO does not have
custody of any text messages that presently reside on Mr. Hubers phone or any
previous phones. See A.R.S. 39-121 (making public records in the custody of any
[public] officer available for inspection and copying during business hours). However,
when Mr. Huber was in Phoenix recently, we reviewed the text messages on his phone
to determine if any of them were responsive to your request. We did not identify any
text messages on Mr. Hubers phone that come within your October 20, 2015 request.

Your August 4 letter specifically discusses text messages exchanged between Mr.
Huber and Corporation Commissioner Bob Stump, and states that the emails that [you]
have received and reviewed between Stump and Huber, most all discuss public
business. Of course, only records that have a substantial nexus to a government
agencys activities are subject to inspection and copying under the Arizona Public
Records Law. See Griffis v. Pinal Cty., 215 Ariz. 1, 4 10 (2007). That such emails
exist does not establish that Mr. Hubers text messages meet the substantial nexus
requirement. Indeed, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge determined that none of
Commissioner Stumps text messages from 18 phone numbers, including Mr. Hubers,
was subject to disclosure under the Public Records Law. See Peterson v. Ariz. Corp.
Commn, Cause No. LC2015-000453, Order at 2 (Mar. 24, 2016).
For the foregoing reasons, RUCO has no public records responsive to your October 20,
2015 request that it has not previously produced.
Very truly yours,

Jordy Fuentes
Special Projects Advisor/Counsel