Dive Summary:

• Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has named Patrick Quinn as the head of the Residential Utility Consumer Office; Quinn will be tasked with protecting consumers against unfair utility rate hikes.
• Previously, Quinn was the president of Qwest Communications, which is the state's largest phone company.
• Quinn's appointment will need to be approved by the state Senate, but one of his first cases will be Tucson Electric Power Co.'s pending request for a 15-percent rate increase.

From the article:

Lawmakers created RUCO in 1983 in the midst of requests for major rate hikes by investor-owned utilities and consumer dissatisfaction with the Corporation Commission that even resulted in an unsuccessful effort to recall Republicans on what was then a three-member panel.

The problem stemmed from concerns that the commission was not looking out for consumer interests. ...