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

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