By Collin Cunningham
(AKRON, Ohio) As part of the legal case surrounding FirstEnergy Corp. and Ohio House Bill 6, federal prosecutors have charged the Akron-based energy company with wire fraud and ordered the corporation to pay $230 million in penalties.
A U.S. Department of Justice press release explained on Thursday that the fine resulted from the company admitting it had struck illegal deals with public officials in order to bail out two of its nuclear power plants. FirstEnergy has agreed to the deal, which could result in its charges being dropped.
Half of the payment will go to the United States government and the other half to the Ohio Development Service Agency’s Percentage of Income Payment Plus Plan, which helps Ohioans pay their utility bills.
Specifically, FirstEnergy admitted to spending millions of dollars in order to keep former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder in office. Householder, in turn, worked to help pass HB6, which would have diverted $1 billion toward FirstEnergy's failing nuclear power plants in Oak Harbor and Perry, Ohio.
Householder was first arrested in July of 2020, losing his speaker role, but he remained in the state's Congress until a bipartisan vote forced him from the House on June 16, per the Associated Press. He is currently facing a federal indictment that could land him in prison for up to 20 years, but according to the press release he wasn't the only official involved.
"FirstEnergy Corp. further acknowledged that it paid $4.3 million dollars to a second public official," the press release continues. "In return, the individual acted in their official capacity to further FirstEnergy Corp.’s interests related to [the] passage of nuclear legislation and other company priorities."
Cleveland.com reports that the second payment went to former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo.
The wire charge and terms of the agreement were announced by Vipal J. Patel, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Cincinnati FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman.
In other news relating to the company that owns both of Ohio's nuclear power plants, former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones made a public announcement denying the company's wrongdoing the day after the DOJ announced the charges and fine. Jones has not been with the company since last fall when he was fired around the time that the payment to Randazzo had been discovered.
A representative for Jones said that he was "very disappointed that FirstEnergy would falsely implicate so many hard-working and dedicated employees in wrongdoing who were committed to implementing the Board’s stated goals."
The rep was also quick to point out that Jones "did not engage in any unlawful activity or violate any of FirstEnergy’s policies...[and] believes that no other FirstEnergy employee engaged in unlawful activities in their dealings with government officials" even after the company had been charged and the fine announced.
Last week's announcement follows a $26 million loss that FirstEnergy took in April when the company refunded the money to customers amid efforts to unfurl HB6. That sum had been pulled directly from customers' pockets through "decoupling" measures, which allow energy companies to collect additional money from clients through fees during years when energy usage is low.
The refunds came at the request of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio via the Ohio Consumers' Counsel. Customers will receive them in the form of one-time credits on their bills in August.