Our calls for deeper investigations have been heard as more dark money has been unearthed.

An audit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) provides the most detailed look yet at the vast sums of money FirstEnergy poured into dark-money lobbying efforts to pass HB6. The audit flags $133 million - more than double the $61 million FirstEnergy paid dark money entity Generation Now.

The audit found FirstEnergy improperly raised prices on customers and attempted to “conceal the nature and purpose” of these payments from the public.

FirstEnergy now has two months to develop a plan to issue refunds to customers.

It's not just FERC, there are multiple investigations of FirstEnergy currently underway, including: the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio, the Cincinnati FBI, the IRS, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as FirstEnergy's own internal investigation.

Larry Householder asks judge to dismiss corruption case

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has asked a federal judge to dismiss the bribery case against him, claiming prosecutors haven't proven that he oversaw the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history to pass House Bill 6.

Householder's attorneys are citing that here was no “explicit” quid pro quo despite FirstEnergy’s deferred prosecution agreement admitting to using a nonprofit to “conceal payments for the benefit of public officials and in return for official action.”

All of the candidates for governor are weighing in on the findings of the latest investigation into FirstEnergy’s bribe payments and political spending, yet...

Nothing but silence from the Governor Mike DeWine

The corruption surrounding House Bill 6 has exposed a regulatory failure of the first magnitude.

Governor DeWine can’t run from energy bailout bribery scandal as dirty laundry keeps piling up. As Marilou Johanek writes in a recent column:

He had put the full weight of the governor’s office behind the nuclear bailout bill and signed the corrupt measure into law the very day it passed. The “energy” legislation championed by DeWine also put ratepayers on the hook to bail out two money-losing, hyper-polluting coal plants (one in Indiana) partially owned by other utilities and two FirstEnergy subsidiaries. Plus, the bailout boondoggle the governor couldn’t sign fast enough thoroughly gutted renewable energy and energy efficiency standards and removed all incentive to build more renewable energy projects in the state.

Is it too much to expect that the governor looks out for Ohioans? What is he waiting for?

Please help us keep the pressure on and hold policy makers accountable