A peek at how the power companies played the political game in 1998:

Their PACS:

Salt River Valley Water Users Association Political Involvement Committee:
-- Raised $115,417 through biweekly payroll deductions, ranging from $1 to $60 per employee per pay period, from 325 employees.

-- Spent $111,329 including contributions to dozens of local, state and federal candidates including:

$3,790 to Governor Jane Hull
$2,500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
$2,500 to the Arizona Democratic Party
$1,250 to the Arizona Republican Party
$1,000 to U.S. Representative Ed Pastor (D-Arizona)
$1,000 to U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska)

Arizona Public Service PAC:
-- Raised $153,215 from hundreds of employees of APS, Suncor Development and Pinnacle West.

-- Spent $164,817 (including surplus funds from the previous election cycle) with contributions to local, state and federal candidates including:

$690 to Governor Jane Hull
$5,000 to the Monday Morning PAC, Virginia
$2,500 to The Freedom Project, Washington, D.C.

-- has 19 registered lobbyists. Chief lobbyist is Russell Smoldon; principal assistant is Kelly Barr.

-- In 1997, SRP, mainly through Smoldon, spent $6,573 on state legislators, including $2,352 to send Republican lawmakers to the annual American Legislative Exchange Council meeting; $152 for a picnic for legislators and staff; and various sums on flowers and food for public officials (including Jim Bloom, assistant to the chairman of the Arizona Corporation Commission).

-- has 28 registered lobbyists. Chief lobbyist is Martin Shultz.
-- In 1997, APS reported spending $3,320, mostly through small expenditures that aren't required to be itemized under state law. The utility paid $300 for dinner for legislators attending the National Conference of State Legislatures in Philadelphia, and $500 for dinner for lawmakers at ALEC in New Orleans.

Direct and in-kind contributions to state candidates:

-- PAC: $31,180
-- Richard Silverman: $2,140 (includes $240 from payroll deduction)
-- Russell Smoldon: $1,090 ($390 from payroll deduction)
-- Kelly Barr: $1,040 ($240 from payroll deduction)
--SRP employees individually: $14,775

-- PAC: $16,855
-- Richard Snell: $10,140
-- William Post (APS president): $4,010
-- Martin Shultz: $1,305 (includes $480 from payroll deduction)
-- APS employees individually: $16,915