House Bill 6
Corporations are licensed by the state. FirstEnergy’s rampant public corruption should cost license
“Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow.” -Abraham Lincoln, 1864 “Order the dissolution of a corporation organized under the laws of this state …… upon a finding that an agent ….. has authorized or engaged in conduct in violation of section 2923.32 of the Revised Code and that, […]
Judge slams former Ohio regulator for not giving details about how he spent $4.3M in utility money
FirstEnergy conceded it was a bribe, but its former executives and former PUCO Chairman Sam Randazzo said it wasn't. Either way, a judge in a federal class-action case is again ordering Randazzo to fork over documents — including emails — addressing how he spent the $4.3 million he got from FirstEnergy in 2019 just as he was about to take the helm of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the agency tasked with regulating FirstEnergy.
Lead Householder juror explains why trial ‘left sour taste’ in his mouth
The lead juror in the largest corruption trial in Ohio history has been left disillusioned with state government, hoping political leaders will finally learn not to undercut their citizens in exchange for power and money. A friend of juror Jarrod Haines introduced him to OCJ/WEWS. In a two-hour interview, the Greenfield, Ohio man discussed what […]
What can Ohio regulators do to prevent future utility corruption scandals?
This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism, in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting. Regulators taking proactive steps could reduce the risk of […]
Ohio SOS gives yet another reason to make it a lot harder for voters to amend Constitution
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Wednesday offered another rationale for making it much more difficult for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution. Now he’s saying it’s needed to fight a possible power grab like one that grew out of a massive bribery and money-laundering scandal. But LaRose didn’t mention in his op-ed that […]
Environmental groups call on regulator to audit coal subsidies in corrupt utility bailout
Correction: The Public Utilities Commission responded to a question for this story on Wednesday. It has been updated. Ohio’s utility regulator played a central role in a historic bribery and money laundering scandal. Now environmental groups are calling on it to perform legally mandated audits of hundreds of millions in coal subsidies that were part […]
AEP doesn’t have much to say about its support for corrupt utility bailout
Columbus-based utility giant AEP wasn’t at the epicenter of a historic bribery and money-laundering scandal in 2019. But it also wasn’t very far away as a corrupt deal was hatched in the Ohio Capitol to use $61 million in bribes to pass a $1.3 billion bailout. The name of the nation’s sixth-largest electric utility came […]
Ohio energy policy: Incoherent, asymmetrical, and special interest driven
The lack of coherent state energy policy and asymmetrical alignment of risks and rewards left a vacuum that made Ohio fertile ground for the HB6 bailout and bribery scandal. The national debate over energy policy in recent years has revolved around two quite different, although not irreconcilable policy objectives: transitioning the energy sector into a […]
Analysis: Bribery scandal shows how Ohio politics is polluted with dark money
CINCINNATI — A utility bailout at the center of a massive bribery and money laundering scandal was such bad legislation — and it was pushed in such bad faith — that it’s hard to see how it could have survived without the more than $60 million in bribes that sustained it. And, while FirstEnergy CEO […]
PUCO: A case study in regulatory passivity and failure in the face of crisis
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has had to deal with two very consequential crises within the scope of its jurisdiction, the House Bill 6 Scandal in electricity, and the Norfolk Southern derailments, particularly the one in East Palestine in transportation. In both cases, the commission posture has been one of passivity and minimal intervention. […]
More indictments ‘likely’ in Householder bribery scandal, legal expert says
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. As former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder awaits sentencing for his role […]
What the guilty verdicts in Ohio’s corruption case mean for energy policy and good government
This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism, in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting. Jurors in Ohio’s House Bill 6 criminal corruption case […]