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FirstEnergy fights to keep records tied to bribery scheme from the public
Akron-based utility FirstEnergy Corp., which has admitted to spending tens of millions bribing top government officials, asked state regulators to shield documents about its bribes from release to the public. The company’s request will soon be decided by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, whose former chairman Sam Randazzo allegedly accepted a $4.3 million bribe […]
Utility regulators freeze investigations into FirstEnergy bribes
Ohio’s utility regulators froze investigations Wednesday into a massive bribery campaign from FirstEnergy Corp. that implicated their former chairman, stating they did so to defer to a parallel criminal investigation. By unanimous vote, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio paused its four investigations into FirstEnergy’s conduct. The move came at the request of Kenneth Parker, […]
Coal plant subsidies from pay-for-play legislation have cost Ohioans $173 million
Ohioans have paid $173 million to cover the losses of three Ohio utility companies’ investments in two coal-fired power plants since 2020, thanks in part to a recent law that’s now in the center of a criminal public corruption investigation. By year’s end, the tab since Jan. 1, 2020 on the Clifty Creek coal plant […]
DOJ asks regulators to back off investigation into FirstEnergy bribery case
Federal prosecutors who brought a sweeping criminal case against FirstEnergy Corp. and Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder are now asking state regulators to hold off on their own investigations into the matter. In a letter to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Kenneth L. Parker, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, asked […]
Texts, calendars, emails link DeWine to FirstEnergy’s bribery scandal
Gov. Mike DeWine and his administration played a hands-on role passing an allegedly pay-for-play nuclear bailout and appointing an industry-friendly regulator who has since been accused of taking a $4.3 million bribe, documents and messages show. Calendar records show DeWine, a Republican, met repeatedly to discuss energy policy with FirstEnergy Corp. officials and at least […]
Judge scolds former GOP chairman, forbids him from intimidating whistleblower
A federal judge lambasted a suspect in a criminal public corruption case for posting a FBI informant’s social security number and address on the internet. U.S. District Judge Timothy Black said he finds it “entirely incredible” that lobbyist and former GOP Chairman Matt Borges accidentally posted the information of the whistleblower online, as Borges claimed. […]
Regulators block deposition of FirstEnergy’s former ethics chief
A state regulator granted a request from FirstEnergy Corp., purportedly made at the behest of federal prosecutors investigating the company’s lobbying practices, to cut off a state watchdog agency’s deposition of the company’s former top ethics officer last week. The Akron-based utility company last summer admitted to bribing two state officials with about $64 million […]
Judge boots lawyers from FirstEnergy bribery suit for failure to ‘diligently prosecute’
In an unusual move in a high-profile lawsuit, a federal judge booted lawyers from a lawsuit they filed against FirstEnergy Corp. for their failure to “diligently prosecute” the case against the scandal-mired company. U.S. District Judge John Adams said Wednesday he would appoint counsel on behalf of the shareholders who sued the company in connection […]
FirstEnergy fired its CEO amid bribery scandal but let him keep millions, documents show
As its starring role in a political bribery scandal became clearer and two alleged conspirators pleaded guilty, FirstEnergy Corp. fired its CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones, who was later outed as an architect of the operation. New documents show, however, that FirstEnergy’s board of directors declined to invoke a provision in Jones’ contract that would have […]
Before bribery scandal, JobsOhio forgave a $12m loan to FirstEnergy to clean up a coal plant
JobsOhio gave FirstEnergy Corp., which later admitted to paying millions in bribes to a ranking politician and the state’s top utility regulator, a nearly $12 million loan in 2015 that was forgiven two years later. The Akron based company used the money to clean up a coal fired power plant in Belmont County that it […]
Judge orders FirstEnergy to turn over records tied to bribery scandal
An administrative judge for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio once again ordered FirstEnergy Corp. to hand over thousands of documents to a watchdog state agency, partially rebuffing the company’s request for a four-month delay. The ruling Wednesday caps off a drawn-out fight over records the company has already given to federal regulators for an […]
FirstEnergy fights to slow-walk subpoena for records tied to bribery case
Despite public promises of transparency, FirstEnergy Corp. is fighting a legal battle to slow-walk its production of documents subpoenaed by a consumer watchdog agency related to the company’s self-professed bribery operation. FirstEnergy, which owns three electric utilities in Ohio, has already successfully narrowed the scope of the documents it was ordered to turn over related […]