An Ohio lawmaker has requested the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio seek a third-party investigation of its former chair who resigned due to a scandal over state subsidies for two FirstEnergy nuclear reactors.
On Wednesday, state Rep. Jeffrey Crossman (D) sent a letter to current Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) chair Jenifer French requesting a branch of the Ohio Supreme Court investigate Sam Randazzo, who resigned as chair in late 2020 when a $4.3 million payout from FirstEnergy Corp to him became public.
“The public deserves to know how much FirstEnergy directed Randazzo’s activities during his tenure as PUCO chair, especially since FirstEnergy admitted in Federal court that Randazzo had been paid to do FirstEnergy’s bidding, while Randazzo was serving as PUCO chair,” Crossman wrote. The letter was reported Wednesday by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“While it is noteworthy that the PUCO has begun investigations of certain categories of issues, Randazzo’s conduct at FirstEnergy’s behest is not among the investigations listed as being undertaken nor are any of these investigations independent — they are internal reviews,” Crossman said. “Anything short of an independent investigation will fail to provide sufficient assurances that this type of corruption scandal will not be repeated in the future at the PUCO.”
The lawmaker requests a complaint be filed with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Ohio to begin the investigation into whether professional discipline is warranted.
FirstEnergy agreed to pay a $230 million fine for its role in a major bribery scandal involving its two financially struggling reactors and Larry Householder (R), the now-ousted former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.
According to an early August U.S. Attorney General’s Office filing in federal court, FirstEnergy funneled $22 million since 2013 to two unidentified companies run by Randazzo, when he was a utilities lobbyist. Of that, $4.3 million went to Randazzo in early 2019, just before Gov. Mike DeWine (R) appointed him PUCO chair. The purpose of the payment, according to the filing, was to place Randazzo at PUCO to shield the $150 million annual subsidies earmarked for the Besse-Davis and Perry nuclear reactors, the filing said.
In a legal settlement, FirstEnergy admitted to funneling $60 million through two non-profit corporations to bribe former Ohio House Speaker Householder and four lobbyist and campaign allies to elect a slate of freshmen legislators who would then vote to make Householder speaker. No one at FirstEnergy has been charged, although the corporation fired several people allegedly involved in the matter, including former CEO Chuck Jones.
