FirstEnergy Corp. CEO Chuck Jones on Friday acknowledged the power company remains a focus of the federal bribery probe over state legislation that provided a financial bailout for two nuclear power plants in Ohio.
The Department of Justice last week announced racketeering charges against Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R) and four associates. The agency on July 21 issued subpoenas to First Energy, subsidiary FirstEnergy Services Co., and the company’s political action committee, Jones said during a conference call on second-quarter earnings.
“We are having discussions with the Department of Justice lawyers and will fully comply with the subpoenas,” he told financial analysts. “I believe that FirstEnergy acted properly in this matter and we intend to cooperate fully with the investigation to among other things, ensure our company and our role and supporting House Bill 6 is understood as accurately as possible.”
Responding to the federal questions in the subpoena will require an internal assessment of the statement in the 81-page criminal affidavit filed last week in the case against Householder, a political adviser, and three lobbyists, Jones said.
Just days before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, then-FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. in March 2018 said it would close three nuclear power plants that were no longer economically viable. One was in Pennsylvania, and the other two in Ohio: the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry.
However, the Akron-based company reversed plans in Ohio after the state Legislature last July passed House Bill 6, which encompassed a $150 million annual subsidy for Davis-Besse and Perry.
The Justice Department said that legislation, and the subsequent campaign to block a state referendum to undo House Bill 6, benefited from about $60 million in bribes and illegal contributions from “Company A” funneled through an organization managed by Householder.
FirstEnergy Solutions emerged from bankruptcy last year as a stand-alone company, Energy Harbor.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) last week supported the repeal of House Bill 6, but said it should be replaced with new legislation to support the nuclear plants.
