Columbus, Ohio: Utility giant FirstEnergy Corp will reevaluate the company’s previous denial that it used customer money for a $60 million bribery scheme to secure legislative approval for a $1 billion bailout for two unprofitable nuclear power plants in Ohio. Did.
The Akron-based company issued a notice Friday to Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission saying that its deferred prosecution agreement with the US Justice Department requires a re-examination of those denials.
And on Monday, Mike DeWine, a campaign spokesman for Republican Gov., announced that the campaign had donated more than $130,000, the amount it had received to campaign donations from FirstEnergy and company officials, following its entry into the prosecution agreement. Later that it was used by black money groups to control the bailout effort.
The Utilities Commission last September, at the request of an Ohio Consumers attorney, ordered the Akron-based company to show cause about whether Ratepayers controlled charitable donations or political contributions in lobbying for the passage of the bailout bill. .
The company still owned power plants operated by a subsidiary when the bill was approved and quickly signed by DeVine in July 2019.
“With its filing, we expect First Energy to strike a more cooperative note with consumers’ responses, though experience tells us to be cautious,” Ohio Consumers attorney Bruce Weston said Monday.
Weston said his agency complained to the Utilities Commission last week about FirstEnergy’s strategy to delay disclosure of its spending, while Weston’s office seeks justice for FirstEnergy consumers.
A message seeking comment about last week’s filing was left with FirstEnergy officials on Monday.
This latest count by the company comes in the wake of agreeing with the Justice Department to pay FirstEnergy’s $230 million in fines and comply with a number of provisions to avoid being criminally charged with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. .
According to the agreement, the charges include bribery, lying or concealment of facts, fraudulent intent and using wire communications to further the scheme.
On Monday, a campaign spokesperson said Devine had given away campaign donations from FirstEnergy Corp following his admission that he had used black money groups to approve a bailout bill.
Devin’s campaign manager Brenton Temple said a check for $130,473 was sent Monday to the Ohio Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs. This included the Political Action Committee of FirstEnergys and company executives since January 2015 from DeWine and Lt. Gov. Donations made to both John Husted, including some made prior to the merger of their campaigns.
Devin said neither he nor anyone in his administration was named in the deferred prosecution agreement.
I don’t know of anyone… including me, he said.
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Gillespie reported from Cleveland.
Disclaimer: This post has been self-published from the agency feed without modification and has not been reviewed by an editor
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