Columbus, Ohio (AP) — Newly surfaced text among firstEnergy Corp. executives at the time provided to the company by Ohio’s top utility regulator, a man being monitored by an ongoing federal corruption investigation. It details a series of favors that have been made.
An internal friend of Akron-based FirstEnergy in early 2020 was Sam Randazzo, chairman of the Public Utility Commission in Ohio. Landazzo said a few weeks before being appointed Ohio’s highest utility regulator in 2019, after the FBI investigated his home and revealed that FirstEnergy’s top executives had approved a $ 4.3 million payment. , Resigned last November.
The text between the two executives, who were dismissed in March 2020, provides a new glimpse into the details of what Randazzo did on behalf of the company.
CEO Chuck Jones and Senior Vice President Dennis Chuck said Randazzo’s support includes “excessive control” of public utility commission staff and members on the revenue guarantee of the 2019 energy bill, which is currently contaminated. Said that.
Randazzo also helped “create” an up-to-date audit report on FirstEnergy’s charge of $ 456 million to its customers. This claim was later deemed inappropriate by the State Supreme Court. Customer fees were aimed at modernizing the grid, but instead, FirstEnergy used the money to create a loan pool available to subsidiary utilities, including outside Ohio.
“He (Randazzo) does it for us, but he can’t abandon the whole process.” Jones sent a text message to Chuck, and Randazzo’s help was “Is he working there? There is a lot of discussion in the PUCO hall about whether it works for us or not. “
About five months later, federal officials accused FirstEnergy of secretly funding an elaborate $ 60 million bribe scheme to elect a new Ohio House chairman. The company hoped that the new speaker would pass a bill to abolish the two nuclear power plants that were then run by a wholly owned FirstEnergy subsidiary, and then shatter ballot efforts to abolish the law. ..
The text exchange was obtained by Ohio Consumer Adviser Bruce Weston in a subpoena issued to the Public Utility Commission for a research document on FirstEnergy and the bribery scandal.
“We are pursuing justice for FirstEnergy consumers with insufficient PUCO,” Weston said in a statement Thursday.
In July, FirstEnergy signed a postponed prosecution agreement requiring a fine of $ 230 million and a long list of reform measures to avoid criminal accusations. In a statement attached to the contract, the company explained its role in the bribery scheme and how the company benefited from Randazzo’s support.
Randazzo has not been charged with criminal charges and has denied cheating. The message asking for comment from his lawyer was not immediately returned.
The link between the passage of the nuclear bailout bill and FirstEnergy’s bribery was first revealed in July 2020 when federal officials arrested then Speaker of the House Larry Householder and four others for conspiracy. The landlord has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
FirstEnergy fired Jones, Chuck, and Senior Vice President Michael Dowling in October 2020 for violating the company’s policies and codes of conduct. No criminal charges have been filed. Jones said he didn’t do anything wrong. A Jones spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
FirstEnergy spokesman Jennifer Thornton declined to comment on the text message.
The text details how Ohio regulators provided FirstEnergy for internal support. WGN Radio 720
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