COLUMBUS -- "Randazzo's resignation as well as the new revelations in FirstEnergy's 10-Q come four months after the FBI searched the homes of former Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder, R, and four associates, and the subsequent indictment of all of them on racketeering and public corruption charges in connection with the passage of legislation authorizing state-wide utility bill increases to bail out two nuclear power plants owned by a former FirstEnergy subsidiary as well as bail out two 65-year-old coal-fired plants owned by all of the state's power companies. Two of the four Householder associates have pled guilty, while Householder and the others await trial. 

FirstEnergy was implicated in the federal investigation as one of the companies that contributed nearly $61 million to bankroll Householder's efforts to pass the bailout legislation, known as House Bill 6. Efforts to repeal H.B. 6 since the indictments have stalled. The company has been served federal subpoenas and is also under investigation by the SEC.

FirstEnergy's revelation in its SEC 10-Q filing on Thursday evening that 'certain former members of senior management' violated company ethics policies when they paid nearly $4 million to close out a six-year consulting contract did not name Randazzo or his consulting company, but instead described a person associated with a consulting company who subsequently became a state utility regulator."

-- John Funk, Utility Dive

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