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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 […]
Amid rising energy costs, Ohio aggregator dumps its 550,000 electric customers
Citing a foreign invasion in Europe, economic inflation, and hot weather, a northeast Ohio electric aggregator is dumping its 550,000 customers. The aggregator, the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC), said it’s taking reasonable steps to shield its customers from electric prices that have doubled in the past year and could double again this winter. […]
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, […]
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. […]
He needed supplemental oxygen. FirstEnergy cut off his electricity
Months after the state government granted hundreds of millions in subsidies to FirstEnergy Corp., the company disconnected the electric service of an Ohio man relying on supplemental oxygen. The customer, David, called the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and told an intake representative that after he got home from a doctor’s appointment he discovered his […]
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 […]
FirstEnergy asks its fired former CEO to return the $56 million it paid him
After FirstEnergy Corp. admitted in court to bribing state officials, it sent word to its former CEO about his salary. The company wanted its money back. All $56 million. In November 2021, the compensation committee of the company’s board made a “recoupment demand” to former CEO Charles Jones for $56 million, according to a quarterly […]
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 […]
Judge rejects bid to settle FirstEnergy bribery suit with shareholders elsewhere
A federal judge in Akron has refused to dismiss a lawsuit between FirstEnergy Corp. — which has admitted that it bribed two top Ohio politicians with $64 million — and some of its shareholders. U.S. District Judge John R. Adams denied a motion Tuesday, filed jointly by the company and its investors, asking him to […]
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 […]