The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio commission has launched a probe into whether the state’s largest electric utility used ratepayer money to help finance a scheme to elect Ohio Rep. Larry Householder as the state’s house speaker in order to pass a bill that helped bail out two of its subsidiaries.
In an order filed Sep. 15, the commission told FirstEnergy Corp. to demonstrate by the end of the month that its lobbying spending on House Bill 6 — which federal authorities have estimated at $60 million — wasn’t included in rates or charges paid by Ohio citizens. A criminal complaint filed in July alleges the company (referred to as “Company A” in filings) subsidized the campaigns of around 20 candidates who helped Householder become speaker in exchange for the bill, which helped bail out two of the troubled energy company’s subsidiary nuclear reactors and subsidized two others.
The Ohio Consumers’ Council — the state government’s residential utility consumer watchdog — filed a separate motion with the commission requesting an investigation and third-party audit of the company’s finances a week before the probe was announced. The commission hasn’t ruled on the motion yet.
The investigation launched by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Sep. 15 doesn’t include an audit, but could include subpoenas. Usually, utility rates are audited annually, Matt Schilling, a commission spokesman, said Monday.
It’s possible that an audit could come later, depending on evidence uncovered over the next couple of months, Schilling said. Once FirstEnergy submits the required evidence by the end of the month, interested parties will be able to comment on or examine FirstEnergy’s filings until the end of October, and respond to further comments until Nov. 13. After that, the commission will decide how to continue with the case — which could involve anything from moving forward with a third-party audit to dropping it.
Lawyers from the Environmental Law & Policy Center, a Chicago-based non-profit environmental advocacy organization, filed the first motion to intervene in the case that the commission filed Friday.
Householder helped write and push HB6 through the legislative process shortly after being appointed speaker of the house. It passed in 2019 and will increase utility rates for all rate-paying Ohioans by 2021, regardless of whether they were FirstEnergy customers. The Ohio House Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight is considering two bills that would repeal HB6.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Ohio charged Householder with racketeering and bribery in July, calling the case one of the largest public corruption schemes in state history. According to the unsealed criminal complaint, leading up to his 2019 election, Householder received millions of dollars from FirstEnergy through a 501(c)(4) named Generation Now, which he secretly controlled. The indictment caused a barrage of shareholder lawsuits.
FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young declined Monday to comment on the investigation, but said the company plans to respond to the commission’s order by Sep. 30 as required.
“The PUCO recently implemented only a part of our several requests to protect Ohioans by investigating FirstEnergy,” J.P. Blackwood, a spokesperson for the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, wrote Tuesday morning in an email. “As we pointed out, the Ohio legislature has granted the PUCO considerable powers to investigate utilities for the protection of the public. We hope the PUCO will more fully use those powers to broaden its announced ‘review’ of FirstEnergy’s alleged conduct in influencing the passage of House Bill 6.”
