Energy Harbor
Money paid, favors done. Messages detail relationship between Ohio regulator and energy executives
In early 2019, news of financial ties between Akron-based FirstEnergy and the man incoming-Gov. Mike DeWine had named to lead the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio began to spread. And as it did, FirstEnergy’s top executives feared they wouldn’t have a regulator they could control, according to documents filed in federal court late last week. […]
Fired First Energy executives team up with others suing to get FE report on Ohio scandal
The long list of pension and investment funds suing Akron-based FirstEnergy are making common cause with two fired executives who were ousted in the wake of a scheme in which the company paid out more than $60 million in exchange for a billion-dollar nuclear bailout. They’re demanding the report from an internal investigation FirstEnergy conducted […]
Coal plants helped cause bribery scandal. Now FirstEnergy might be buying one back
Akron-based FirstEnergy might be poised to increase its coal-fired generation capacity by 40% with the purchase of a West Virginia plant it owned less than four years ago and spun off as part of a massive racketeering scandal. The reason why the company paid out more than $60 million between 2017 and 2020 to force […]
Corrupt Ohio utility bailout sprung out of fertile ground, recordings show
CINCINNATI — When Akron-based FirstEnergy made huge contributions between 2017 and 2019 to get a giant bailout from the Ohio government, the deal was developed in a corrupt ecosystem, secret recordings and other evidence presented in federal court Wednesday showed. Multiple players on Capitol Square had conflicted interests and seemed to be acting out of […]
Former associate testifies that ex-Ohio GOP Chair Borges paid to spy on bailout repeal effort
CINCINNATI — Former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges paid $15,000 off the books in 2019, a witness testified Tuesday. It was in an attempt to gather inside information about the campaign to repeal a $1.3 billion utility subsidy that had just been passed by the legislature, a Borges associate said. In addition, the chairman […]
Never needed? Senate president predicts little opposition to nuclear bailout repeal
A billion-dollar nuclear subsidy was the subject of an intense fight in 2019 and great controversy since. But the president of the Ohio Senate this week predicted that a repeal will make it through the House, Senate and that Gov. Mike DeWine will sign it. The reason: The company that owns the nuclear reactors no […]
Many bailout-repeal bills were filed, only a half-measure appears to have a chance
There were many calls to repeal scandal-plagued HB 6, but with the legislative session wrapping up on Tuesday at the latest, only one appears to have a chance of making it across the finish line. And that one is at best a half-measure.
The nuclear bailout nobody’s talking about
Bankruptcy of former FirstEnergy subsidiary might be yet another bailout for Akron utility conglomerate.
Report: FirstEnergy being investigated by federal securities and exchange commission
The company at the center of what prosecutors are calling the biggest corruption scandal in Ohio political history is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Cleveland.com reported Tuesday afternoon: The examination became public in a lawsuit the company and a consulting firm filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland against a former […]