COLUMBUS — "State lawmakers are looking at whether to keep in place a $1.3 billion public bailout for the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants along Lake Erie, a law that federal authorities say was corruptly enacted.

But throughout the debate, there’s still a glaring problem: the owner of the nuclear plants refuses to disclose whether they are profitable or not. And so far, there’s been no attempt by state lawmakers to compel the company to release its numbers before the bailout takes effect.

During last year’s debate over whether to pass the bailout as part of House Bill 6, Energy Harbor – then known as FirstEnergy Solutions – asserted it needed public subsidies or it would close the plants. But the company wouldn’t open its books to lawmakers or the public to prove that it actually needed the money, leading legislators to rely on estimates, industry averages and company officials' word."

-- Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com

link to full article

With your help we can have this mobile billboard show up at Speaker Cupp's next event. We need to send a message that Ohioans need to HB6 repealed immediately. 

Thank you!

COLUMBUS -- "[Ohio House Speaker] Cupp called the Democrat-offered amendments “reckless and hasty,” but the Republican response feels a lot like stalling. Sen. Steve Wilson, R-Maineville, chairman of the Energy & Public Utilities Committee, said Tuesday he plans a full slate of hearings on the bipartisan repeal bill in that chamber.

It needn’t be this complicated. The reason repeal is even being considered — the bill’s corrupt origins — is simple and won’t change. Lawmakers needn’t re-debate the merits of HB 6; that can be done when they revisit the issue after repeal — this time without the disinformation and political pressure that $60 million paid for the last time around.

Our view remains that the bill was supremely bad policy: a dubious bailout of two nuclear power plants and the unconscionable sabotage of Ohio’s already-weak support and incentives for clean alternative energy. It would have been a bad bill without the corruption.

As it is, lawmakers should erase it from the books. "

-- editorial, Columbus Dispatch

read the full editorial

COLUMBUS -- "In July, the House voted to remove Householder as speaker but tabled a motion to eject him from office. Cupp said ejection can only be exercised once for the same actions and Householder is running unopposed for re-election in November.

Lawmakers are in an election season and many are facing public pressure over House Bill 6 and the scandal.

The Coalition to Restore Public Trust is running ads in key districts calling for a full repeal of HB6 and Ohio Citizen Action launch a campaign to pressure lawmakers to repeal the law.

Mike McGovern of ProgressOhio, a liberal-leaning organization, criticized House leadership for considering replacing HB6 with some other subsidies for the nuclear power plants.

“This is a matter of right and wrong. If Speaker Cupp is serious about restoring trust in the House, then he needs to repeal, not replace HB6. Any legislation that continues to bail out FirstEnergy with our money after they attempted to buy our democracy is unacceptable,” McGovern said in a written statement."

-- Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News

link to full article

CLEVELAND — "After its bailout-driven success, FirstEnergy’s fortunes took an unwelcome turn July 21.

That’s when federal authorities released a criminal complaint detailing how 'Company A' — a clear reference to FirstEnergy — spent $60 million to get a well-known Republican named Larry Householder selected as Ohio’s House speaker, finance his bailout passage efforts and prevent Ohioans from having their say about the legislation at the polls.

FirstEnergy’s stock price plummeted nearly 35% within two days and has yet to rebound. Independent board members have called for an internal investigation and shareholders have filed at least four potential class-action lawsuits alleging FirstEnergy’s executives committed fraud and concealed an 'illicit campaign' to secure the bailout."

— Mark Gillespie and John Seewar, Associated Press

link to full article

Who is Sam Randazzo and how is he tied to FirstEnergy?

COLUMBUS -- "Sam Randazzo, the powerful chairman of the state commission that oversees utility regulation and rate-setting, is the target of a new campaign tying him to FirstEnergy through his previous work as a lobbyist and attorney.

The Ohio Consumers Power Alliance, which describes itself as an advocacy group pushing for more renewables that it believes will ultimately lower electricity rates, is making a case for Randazzo’s removal through a new website: https://SamRandazzo.com/.

...The Ohio Consumers Power Alliance argues that Randazzo holds the same views with the PUCO that he held in his previous career, lobbying and as an attorney for the Industrial Energy Users -- Ohio, a group representing some of the state’s largest industries, when he fought renewable standards. For years, he was out front in the opposition to the renewable energy and energy efficiency standards.

'It’s really obvious during the time that he’s been the chair that he’s not doing what he said he would do a year ago (at his confirmation hearing,) which was to represent Ohio and Ohioans,” said Rachel Belz, director of the Ohio Consumers Power Alliance, which is a project of the left-leaning grassroots Ohio Citizen Action. 'Instead, they’ve been picking winners and losers.'

Randazzo, through a spokesman, declined to comment on the effort to remove him."

-- Laura Hancock, cleveland.com

read more

But dark money has been in Ohio for a while.

COLUMBUS - "The message could not have been more clear: Save the American way of life from the nefarious Chinese. 

The television ad showed Chinese President Xi Jinping lifted his fist as military members marched by. An ominous script warned that this well-oiled machine had come for Americans' manufacturing jobs and it was back for Ohioans' energy jobs, too: "Don’t let them do it to you. Don’t sign the petition allowing China to control Ohio’s power.”

While the message was clear, the source of that xenophobic ad could not have been less clear. 

That's because, according to a federal investigation, FirstEnergy and other energy companies funneled money through two groups that had to disclose little – if any – information about the donations that ultimately paid for the ad.

...Much like internet trolls or anonymous web commenters, these dark money groups are frequently emboldened by their anonymity to pay for the nastiest ads – ones politicians can easily disavow while still reaping the benefits of mudslinging."

-- Jesse Balmert, Cincinnati Enquirer

link to full article 

"The climate consequences can be serious.

In Ohio, FirstEnergy Solutions made the decision to keep open W.H. Sammis, the second-largest coal plant in the state, after the bailout law passed.

Sammis emitted 12.3 million tons of CO2 in 2013, according to EPA data. But the plant has run less and less in recent years. It ran only 20% in 2019, down from 61% in 2014.

Last year, it reported CO2 emissions of 4.6 million tons, or what 900,000 cars emit annually.

The result is a one-two punch to climate and consumers, forcing them to pay for polluting plants that are no longer economic, said Leah Stokes, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has written extensively about Ohio's bailout law. She said FirstEnergy represents one of the most egregious cases of utility corruption, but is part of a larger pattern of power companies' approach to climate policy."

-- Benjamin Storrow, E&E News

read more

In July, 2020, Ohioans learned that HB6, dubbed "the worst energy bill of the 21st century," was passed as the result of an alleged $61 million racketeering scheme involving Ohio's former and now indicted Speaker of the House, Larry Householder, and his close allies. Almost immediately, multiple bills were introduced to ensure a clean, immediate repeal of HB6.

That same month, Bob Cupp replaced Householder as Speaker of the House. Cupp immediately formed the House Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight to reevaluate HB6. Despite Speaker Cupp's promise for a "fresh start" with HB6, the committee did little to forward meaningful repeal legislation. The committee moved slowly and shut out public input. Ohio Citizen Action and its coalition partners eventually had to take matters into their own hands and host their own public hearings on the HB6 repeal. Watch the recordings of public testimony here

New to House Bill 6? This article provides a deep dive inside HB 6 and the biggest government scandal in Ohio state history.

By April 2021, Ohio lawmakers repealed only parts of House Bill 6, including nuclear bailout.

Despite constant pressure from Ohioans for a full and clean repeal, state legislators have chosen to repeal only select parts of HB6. Passed through the General Assembly with little opposition and signed by Gov. DeWine on March 31 2021, House Bill 128 is the first legislation to repeal any part of HB6. Mainly, HB128 repeals the over $1 billion ratepayer-funded bailout of two of FirstEnergy’s failing nuclear plants. It was easy for FirstEnergy to give up their beloved nuclear subsidies, since a rule change from the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) penalizes utility companies that do receive state subsidies.

Taxpayer dollars are still flowing to subsidize two dirty, Eisenhower-era coal plants partially owned by AEP and Duke Energy. So while lawmakers quietly repealed the nuclear bailout, the coal subsidies continue to roll in directly from consumers’ pockets. The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel says that as of April 2021, $254 million in coal subsidies have gone to OVEC coal plants as a part of HB6. Another $287,000 rolls in every day. Notably, an April 2021 analysis shows that none of these three utility companies pay any taxes.

The Ohio legislature needs to pass Senate Bill 117 and HB 351 to repeal the HB6 OVEC coal plant bailout.

Tell your legislators to FINISH THE JOB and fully repeal House Bill 6.

The only acceptable path forward is to immediately and completely repeal House Bill 6 (HB6)

Passage of HB6 was bought and paid for to the tune of $61 million in payola and bribes --  and it still only passed by one vote.

It is one of the dirtiest campaigns we've ever seen, pushing an expensive, dirty energy bailout onto Ohio consumers. We're not surprised this particular bit of corporate welfare slid through by greasing palms.

Ohio taxpayers should not be saddled with this corrupt policy and the years of higher electric bills and pollution that come with it. Bribery and greed must not be rewarded. HB6 was a bad idea then, and it's a bad idea now.

Ohio Citizen Action calls on the Ohio General Assembly to immediately and fully repeal this corrupt law, and for Governor DeWine to support its rollback.

Our calls for a deeper investigation have been heard

FirstEnergy is paying $230 million to avoid prosecution for their crimes, but the deferred prosecution agreement does not require them to disclose who funneled money to elected officials to buy HB6 votes.

The Department of Justice limited disclosures to 2021 and beyond, maintaining the veil over the utility's activities in 2019 and 2020. The utility still faces multiple regulatory investigations and audits into the HB6 corruption scandal.

Questions about the role of former PUCO chairman Sam Randazzo, Governor DeWine and his staff in the scandal continue making headlines:

Rep. Casey Weinstein and Rep Jeff Crossman have called for the firings of Governor Mike DeWine staffers Laurel Dawson and Dan McCarthy and the duo is calling on Ohio Inspector General Randall Meyer to investigate the governor's staff.

Rep. Crossman has also asked PUCO Chair Jenifer French to turn over documents related to the scandal-ridden HB6 energy law, the proposed Icebreaker wind farm in Lake Erie, and “other projects Sam Randazzo personally involved himself with."

FirstEnergy CEO and President Steven Strah admitted Randazzo helped the company fix its “Ohio hole” after his appointment as PUCO chair. A judge in Columbus has frozen $8 million of Sam Randazzo's assets to preserve them for future collection.

How did your legislator vote on HB6?

This corruption at the statehouse invalidates the legislature’s vote on the bailout.

Government accountability is a big part of our mission at Ohio Citizen Action. We always put legislation through the "smell test" and HB6 stank all the way through:

• initially sold as a "clean air bill," it forces Ohioans to bail out two coal plants, one of which is in Indiana
• Householder predicted the bill would pass in mere weeks, but organized opposition from Ohio Citizen Action and members like you was so great it passed by just one vote
• when the referendum effort to repeal the law gained momentum, it was killed by a combination of false, inflammatory and bigoted mail and ads, petition "blockers" and an unfairly short time to gather signatures.

Follow the money

If you want to get into the nitty gritty on exactly where Householder and FirstEnergy spent all that money, please check out this amazing interactive map that breaks it down by PAC and voting district. It was created by the Akron Beacon Journal and The Ohio Center for Investigative Journalism:

Tracking all of FirstEnergy’s political contributions is difficult, but if you want to delve even deeper, journalist Emily Atkin has done an amazing amount of work to reveal how extensive their donations are to both parties across many states.

The "Company A" piggy bank

A Talking Points Memo article explains how "Over and over, bank records show Company A allegedly wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars into Generation Now, as well as pass-through companies, at crucial moments — such as days before the November 2018 elections."

It looks like our campaign prop that we hauled across Ohio last year was more spot on than we could ever have imagined:

Also the news broke that "Company B" referenced in the FBI investigation is the now-bankrupt Ohio coal giant Murray Energy.