firstenergy
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 […]
How does JobsOhio stack up? Don’t ask them
The group that sued to stop the creation of JobsOhio was ProgressOhio, not Policy Matters Ohio. This story has been updated with the correct information. Since 2015, JobsOhio has spent more than a billion dollars in an effort to revive the state’s lagging economy. That’s money that would have gone into the state treasury if […]
Newly revealed texts suggest regulator knew rate hike was improper
More evidence emerged Friday that Ohioans for years have faced questionable utility increases that were granted out of possibly dubious motives. On June 19, 2019, FirstEnergy’s leaders were furiously pushing what would later be called one of the biggest bribery and money laundering schemes in Ohio history. The same day, the Ohio Supreme Court struck […]
JobsOhio says it’s not a public entity, but is that true?
Ohio’s economic developer, JobsOhio, is quick to say it’s a private, non-profit corporation and it’s quick to add that its hundreds of millions of dollars are private as well. “JobsOhio is a private nonprofit corporation wholly funded by an independent private source — the profits from the JobsOhio Beverage System (JOBS) liquor enterprise — that […]
Dark money helped utilities subsidize coal plants, delaying climate action at ratepayers’ expense
This story originated from the Energy News Network and Eye on Ohio and is part of ‘Climate & Democracy,’ a series from the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. It has been three years since Ohio lawmakers first introduced the power plant bailout legislation that is now at the heart of the largest corruption case […]
FirstEnergy deposition looms in shareholder lawsuit for bribery, misleading investors
It has been nine months since FirstEnergy Corp. admitted to federal prosecutors that it bribed Ohio’s top utility regulator and the speaker of the Ohio House. Investors in the electric utility may soon get the chance to ask a few follow-up questions about how the $64 million operation came together. Besides the criminal allegations against […]
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 […]
Former DeWine aide warned governor about utility regulator before the FBI raided his home
More than two years before FirstEnergy Corp. admitted to paying Ohio’s top utility regulator a $4.3 million bribe, Mike DeWine’s former campaign treasurer warned senior aides to the new governor about the eventual nominee’s “opaque and undisclosed” financial ties to the company. The warning came in a 198-page dossier alleging Sam Randazzo — a lawyer […]
FirstEnergy’s CEO and SVP ordered $64 million bribery scheme, shareholders say
FirstEnergy’s CEO and senior vice president “devised and orchestrated” a $64 million bribery scheme to pay a top legislative leader and utility regulator in exchange for official action, according to a sworn declaration Wednesday from shareholders’ lawyers who are suing the company. While CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones and senior vice president for external affairs Michael […]
Judge gives lawyers 24 hours to identify FirstEnergy execs who ordered political bribes
Further scuttling a proposed settlement for FirstEnergy’s shareholders, a federal judge demanded their lawyers, within 24 hours, answer his question about which company officials ordered what has been described as the largest political bribery scheme in Ohio history. Both FirstEnergy and its shareholders were on the cusp of a settling the shareholders’ derivative lawsuit, announcing […]
Both FirstEnergy and its shareholders seek secrecy around company’s bribes
Both FirstEnergy Corp. and its shareholders argued to a federal judge that they shouldn’t be forced to publicly disclose which executives ordered the payment of political bribes that the company admitted to in a related criminal case. The two parties are awaiting judicial approval of a proposed settlement from a derivative lawsuit filed by FirstEnergy’s shareholders. […]