Service is the act by which a party to a case provides copies of each filing it makes in the case to the other parties to the case, or by which a Commissioner, the Commission’s Executive Director, or the Commission’s Hearing Division provides copies of a filing made in a case to the parties to the case.  Traditionally, service has been done either through personal delivery or, more commonly, through sending copies of filings through the U.S. Postal Service by first class mail.1 The Commission’s rules (Arizona Administrative Code (“A.A.C.”) R14-3-107(B)) allow for service to be made by mail, and to be deemed complete when a true copy of a filing, properly addressed and stamped, is deposited in the U.S. mail with first class postage prepaid.

Both to accommodate parties who have requested the ability to provide and receive service by email, and to reduce the amount of paper used and postage paid by the parties and the Commission in each case, the Commission has created a process that allows each party to a case to choose to receive service of all filings in the case by email, at a designated email address, rather than by U.S. mail or personal service.  When a party has completed a consent to email service, and the consent to email service has been approved through a Procedural Order, the party will no longer receive hard copies of filings made by a Commissioner, the Commission’s Executive Director, or a Commission Division.  Instead, service of each such filing will be made (automatically) by sending an email to the party’s designated email address.  Each email identifies the case by docket number and includes a link to a PDF version of the filing.  A party may still receive hard copies of filings made by other parties, if the other parties choose not to provide service by email, but the approved consent to email service allows every party to provide service to the consenting party by email.

Parties who do not consent to email service may not receive some documents, such as Amendments to Open Meeting Agenda items, before the Open Meeting at which they are considered.

¹ There are specific and more stringent requirements for service in cases involving the Commission’s Securities Division. See A.A.C. R14-4-403.

To consent to email service in a case, you must be the representative for a party to the case (e.g., applicant, respondent, intervenor), and you must complete the following steps:

• Ensure that you have a valid and active email address to which you have regular and reliable access (“designated email address”);
• Complete a Consent to Email Service using either the form available on the Commission’s website (click here) or a substantially similar format;²
• File the Consent to Email Service (a) by filing the original and the number of copies specified in the Filing Requirements with the Commission’s Docket Control, or (b) by eFiling;
• Serve the Consent to Email Service on each other party on the service list; and
• Unless you have had consent to email service approved in another docket using the same designated email address, send an email containing the party name and the docket number for the case to HearingDivisionServicebyEmail@azcc.gov from the designated email address.

A party’s Consent to Email Service does not become effective until the Hearing Division issues a Procedural Order approving the use of email service for the party.  The Hearing Division issues a Procedural Order approving a party’s Consent to Email Service only after the party has completed the steps above, as applicable, and the Hearing Division has verified the party’s designated email address.  (Verification can be done using the verification email from a previous case, if applicable.)

² Remember to fill out the form as the party, if the party is a company or organization rather than you as an individual.

Several years ago, the Commission created a process for Consent to Email Service, to allow each party to a case to choose to receive service of all filings in the case by email, at a designated email address, rather than by U.S. mail or personal service. Until now, the process for Consent to Email Service has been docket specific, requiring that a person involved in multiple cases before the Commission file a Consent to Email Service in each docket in order to receive email service for each case.