FirstEnergy

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SEE GIBNEY DOKU lobby neil clark said CU made bribe legal

NO MERRI

see ohio astroturf coal nuke bailouts MURRAY PERRY

shillenberger?

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BIGGER PIX?

December 17, 2019

Murray Energy bankruptcy filings revealed that the energy company, even while undergoing bankruptcy, had continued to fund a wide range of climate change denial groups. That included theInternational Climate Science Coalition (ICSC), a group that has closely guarded its funding sources, which received $60,000. Other groups named included the Heartland Institute ($130,000), the Competitive Enterprise Institute ($200,000), and Government Accountability & Oversight ($300,000). Murray’s company also donated $60,000 to the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, making it one of the group’s largest donors. See related reporting from The Intercept, Energy and Environment News*, and *The New York Times.⁶⁵ ^66 ^67

Other groups funded by Murray Energy include FreedomWorks, the Cato Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, and Judicial Watch. As The New York Times noted, Murray continued to fund climate change denial even as his company was going bankrupt.

May 31, 2018

Based on a draft Department of Energy (DOE) memo obtained by Bloomberg,the Trump administration was making plans to bail out coal and nuclear plants. This followed more than a year of lobbying by Murray for President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry to bail out struggling coal plants. *Bloomberg*was the first to report:⁶⁸ ^69

“Trump administration officials are making plans to order grid operators to buy electricity from struggling coal and nuclear plants in an effort to extend their life, a move that could represent an unprecedented intervention into U.S. energy markets.

“The Energy Department would exercise emergency authority under a pair of federal laws to direct the operators to purchase electricity or electric generation capacity from at-risk facilities, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News. The agency also is making plans to establish a ‘Strategic Electric Generation Reserve’ with the aim of promoting the national defense and maximizing domestic energy supplies.”

In August of 2017, Murray hadsent a letter to the White House requesting assistance from the Trump administration. In particular, he was lobbying on behalf of FirstEnergy, one of Murray Energy’s largest customers and which ultimately filed for bankruptcy in March 2018.⁷⁰ ^71

“We are desperate for the President to, once again, order Energy Secretary Perry to invoke Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act for FirstEnergy’s merchant power plants,” Murray wrote in the letter to the White House.

In September, Perry had called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to speed up a proposed “grid resiliency” rulethat would prop up coal and nuclear plants with the stated goal of preserving grid reliability. This, despite Perry’s own agency finding that the closure of those coal plants would have little impact on the grid.⁷² ^73

Murray claimed FirstEnergy’s bankruptcy could have been prevented if FERC had turned down the rule.⁷⁴

Despite Murray’s claim he “didn’t have any involvement” in the rule DOE proposed to FERC*,In These Times* revealed a March 2017 meeting between Perry and Murray, in which Murray presented his “action plan” for federal agencies to aid the coal industry and in which he hugged Perry.⁷⁵ ^76

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Prosecutors say Householder hatched bribery scheme at Washington steakhouse. He says he spent the weekend with family

Local News

By Andrew J. Tobias, Jake Zuckerman cleveland.com (TNS)

Updated March 2, 2023

CINCINNATI — Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder testified Wednesday that he didn’t attend a trio of high-dollar dinners in Washington, D.C. with FirstEnergy executives in January 2017, contradicting the testimony of a former top political aide and disputing other versions of the story prosecutors have presented to jurors during his corruption trial.

Householder said instead that he spent the week of ex-President Donald Trump’s inauguration largely with his family, attending concerts, political banquets and private dinners. He said he only ran into Chuck Jones, the then-CEO of FirstEnergy, a couple of times in passing, including at the home of Rex Elsass, a top GOP political strategist, and then again in the lobby of his hotel.

The testimony is flatly at odds with what Jeff Longsteth told jurors last week. Longstreth, who has cut a plea deal as part of the case, told jurors last week that he and Householder discussed what eventually became a deal to pass priority legislation for FirstEnergy in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in political contributions.

Prosecutors have used the exchange and the imagery it conveys — a politician flying on a corporate jet to Washington, D.C., to hatch a corrupt bribery scheme over steaks — as a key part of their narrative of the complex case. They’ve previously introduced evidence of the dinners, in the form of corporate expense reports and receipts from FirstEnergy that list Householder and Jones as among the attendees.

Householder said Wednesday he hadn’t seen the receipts until the trial, and reaffirmed he wasn’t there.

“No,” he said several times.

Prosecutors said that FirstEnergy, while seeking a bailout for two Ohio nuclear plants owned by former subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions , paid $60 million in bribes to Generation Now, a nonprofit Householder secretly controlled in exchange for his help passing the bill.

But on Wednesday, Householder said he didn’t direct the spending, vendors, or contributions of Generation Now. He said that power belonged to Longstreth, the signatory on the account.

The money helped Householder defeat a rival Republican candidate, then-House Speaker Ryan Smith, who didn’t support the bailout. Householder then pushed for the law’s passage in 2019 and with help of his co-defendant, Matt Borges, and others, defended it against a repeal attempt. The nonprofit covered the costs. Prosecutors say its operators used its funds to pay themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars as well.

Householder’s lawyers called two witnesses on Wednesday. In the morning, Bob Klaffky, a prominent Columbus lobbyist, disputed testimony from Juan Cespedes, another lobbyist who’s pleaded guilty in the case and is cooperating with prosecutors.

Cespedes has told jurors that Klaffky had given a $400,000 check to Householder during an October 2018 meeting in which FirstEnergy Solutions’ representatives emphasized their need for a bailout. Klaffky testified that an FES executive, David Griffing, actually gave Householder the check, although he said he generally didn’t remember the meeting well.

But the most notable witness testimony from Wednesday came from Householder, who let loose a full press of folksy appeal and self-assuredness from the witness stand. He struggled, perhaps in jest, to recall how many years he has been married to his “pizza addict” wife, Taundra, who sat in the courtroom watching. He cackled loudly when asked about a claim from another alleged conspirator, the late lobbyist Neil Clark, who unwittingly told undercover FBI agents he served as Householder’s “proxy” with Generation Now. He showed jurors a picture of his son near the stage at a Trace Adkins concert in Washington D.C. that he said he took.

He spent time trying to get jurors to disbelieve Longstreth, who in his testimony had portrayed Householder as an exacting, all-knowledgeable and hands-on boss.

In 2018, Longstreth had helped orchestrate Householder’s campaign for speaker, which involved recruiting friendly candidates and helping them defeat Smith’s allies in that year’s Republican primary election.

But on Wednesday, Householder described delegating a lot of the responsibility for his campaign to Longstreth and Megan Fitzmartin, who worked for Longstreth and who also previously testified in the case.

He also contradicted testimony offered by Rep. Dave Greenspan, a Westlake Republican who in 2019 voted against House Bill 6, the bailout legislation. Greenspan claimed Clark threatened him on Householder’s behalf regarding his no-vote on HB6; that Householder nixed other legislation Greenspan was working on at the time; and that Householder’s lieutenant, Longstreth, dispatched an intermediary asking Greenspan to delete his texts with Householder regarding HB6.

Householder denied any inolvement on each of those three points.

“I absolutely did not threaten him,” Householder said.

Another anecdote helps illustrate the difference between Longstreth and Householder’s respective testimonies. Longstreth described to jurors a phrase — “casket carriers” — that Longstreth said meant to convey the significance Householder placed on loyalty.

“I understood it to mean a loyal team around him that would be with him until his death and to lower the casket in the ground,” Longstreth said.

But Householder said he had a different interpretation of the term, saying it reflected his desire to not make any more enemies than he already had throughout his lengthy political career.

“When you get to be the age that I am, you’re not looking for any more enemies. And if you’re in politics, there’s probably going to be enough people throwing mud at you when your casket goes by,” he said. “In other words, I don’t want enemies, I want friends. I didn’t come back [re-enter politics] to make more enemies.”

And rather than what Longstreth said, that Householder prized loyalty above all when looking for legislative candidates, Householder said he looked for independent thinkers who pay attention.

“You get a much better debate,” Householder said.

Householder’s attorneys say they expect he will testify for about another hour on Thursday morning. From there, Householder faces his true crucible: answering questions from federal prosecutors who have now spent years trying to put him behind bars.

Borges will have the opportunity to question Householder as well.After that, Borges may testify in his own defense, his lawyers said. If he does not, they likely will rest their case.

On his way out out of the courtroom Wednesday, Borges said when asked whether he may testify despite any potential legal risks: “Whatever you see tomorrow, know that it was my choice.”

===

By JULIE CARR SMYTH

Published 2:34 PM PST, March 1, 2023

CINCINNATI (AP) — Former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder directly contradicted FBI testimony in his corruption trial Wednesday, taking the stand for the first time to deny attending a series of swanky dinners in Washington, D.C. where prosecutors have alleged he and executives of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. hatched a $60 million bribery scheme in 2017.

Householder, 63, looked relaxed and confident during his first day of testimony, setting the stage by describing his lifetime lived in a single rural Ohio county, his early political-underdog days and his rising path to become speaker. His wife of 38 years, Taundra, sat facing him from the gallery.

The trial is in its fifth week before a jury and U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black in Cincinnati.

Householder and Matt Borges, 50, a lobbyist and former Ohio Republican Party chair, have been charged with conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering. Federal prosecutors allege Householder controlled a scheme, secretly funded by FirstEnergy, to elect allies, win the speakership, pass a $1 billion nuclear plant bailout and that Borges sought to bribe an operative for inside information on the referendum to overturn it. Both have pleaded not guilty and maintain their innocence. Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Householder told jurors that he invented the strategy of recruiting large numbers of like-minded Republican House candidates and setting up expensive operations to help them all get elected at once, requiring the raising of large sums of money. But he denied demanding loyalty oaths from his recruits or extracting promises to vote a certain way.

“I really looked for people who are independent-minded,” he said.

Three of Householder’s former caucus members testified last week that he pressured them to vote for the bill, and texts were presented in which Householder appeared to express anger at disloyalty.

Associate Jeff Longstreth, among four other individuals and a dark money group charged in the scheme, had testified for the prosecution that Householder wanted “casket carriers,” people so loyal they would carry his casket on the day of his funeral. Householder told jurors “casket carriers” were just friends, and that a long-time politician like him doesn’t need anymore enemies.

In another denial of previous allegations, Householder said he never granted Statehouse superlobbyist Neil Clark, a co-defendent who died by suicide in 2021, a “proxy” to act on his behalf. The former speaker guffawed at the suggestion.

“I don’t give up my right to speak for myself,” he said.

Clark was taped describing himself as Householder’s “proxy” while speaking to two undercover FBI agents posing as developers. He went on to describe in detail Householder’s use of dark money groups to conceal campaign contributions. Householder’s attorneys have said Clark exaggerated.

Perhaps the day’s most striking exchange was when Householder described his trip to Republican President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. He recounted flying to Washington on a FirstEnergy plane, then outlined his weekend activities in detail — photo opportunities, cocktail parties, balls, parades, a concert with his son and pizza with a wife “addicted” to it.

Missing from the account were several dinners, which earlier documents had shown were arranged by Longstreth, head of the dark money Generation Now, to involve then-FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, Vice President Michael Dowling and others. Householder said he had not attended any such dinners. He said he saw Jones on the plane flights to and from the inaugural, and then throughout the weekend only at a “packed” house party hosted by media consultant Rex Elsass and perhaps once more in passing. Asked if he attended the dinners, Householder simply said, “No” or “I was not.”

Earlier in the trial, FBI Agent Blane Wetzel had walked through internal documents from both Generation Now and FirstEnergy, phone records, emails and other documents indicating Jones, Dowling and Householder were part of a party of eight that met three times in D.C. over Trump’s inaugural weekend.

It was about two weeks later that Longstreth opened a bank account for Generation Now, through which FirstEnergy admitted in an agreement to avoid prosecution to pushing millions of bribes aimed at getting the bailout bill passed. The same day, Longstreth emailed Dowling “wiring instructions” for FirstEnergy to put money in the account. Regular $250,000 began flowing.

Longstreth and Generation Now have pleaded guilty to their parts in the bribery scheme, as has a third individual, Juan Cespedes, who testified last week. Clark had pleaded not guilty.

Cross-examination of Householder had not yet begun at day’s end Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Statehouse lobbyist Robert Klaffky testified to being present at a meeting where a $400,000 check from his client, FirstEnergy Solutions, was given to Householder in an envelope. Klaffky said he could not remember what was said at the meeting, but that he was certain he had not witnessed pay-to-play.

Klaffky said he was already a Householder insider and adviser before taking on FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary that owned the two nuclear plants, as a client — and wanting him to win the speakership.

Borges’ attorney, Karl Schneider, said he expected his client also to take the stand.

JULIE CARR SMYTH

Smyth covers government and politics from Columbus, Ohio, for The Associated Press. She was part of the AP team honored as a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news.

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Akron Beacon Journal

Are feds going to say FirstEnergy execs bribed more Ohio public officials? What we know

Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Dispatch

:{Thu,:{ April 17, 2025 }:

Attorneys defending for former FirstEnergy CEO want prosecutors to disclose if their client is being accused of bribing more, not yet named, Ohio politicos.

New filings in the case against Chuck Jones signal that prosecutors may allege that bribes were paid to more public officials — beyond former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder and former utility regulator Sam Randazzo.

Former FirstEnergy CEO Charles "Chuck" Jones, left, and former FirstEnergy Senior VP of External Affairs Michael Dowling in Summit County Court during an arraignment heating with Judge Susan Baker Ross on charges related to the FirstEnergy scandal on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Akron, Ohio. [Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal]

Jones and former FirstEnergy senior vice president Michael Dowling have pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges filed in January.

They're accused of bribing state officials, including Householder and Randazzo, to pass a $1 billion bailout for the company's nuclear plants and to eliminate regulatory hurdles.

The public corruption scandal is the subject of a new two-hour documentary by filmmaker Alex Gibney that is now streaming on Max.

News: 'Families and businesses are already struggling': Opponents criticize FirstEnergy rate hike

Jones and his attorneys are trying to force federal prosecutors to give them more details on who he allegedly bribed. In a legal filing made April 11, Jones' legal team says a recent letter from prosecutors suggest the government may allege that Jones conspired to bribe other public officials.

The filing blacks out the names of other public officials.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black allowed Jones' team to file an unredacted document with him and post the blacked-out version to the court's online docket system.

The racketeering case against Jones and Dowling is complex and not subject to speedy trial requirements.

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NOTE MTA NAT’L CORP CHARTER REVOKE FIRSTENERGY? 6 24

An analysis by OpenSecrets revealed in March that "dark money groups are spending at record levels in their efforts to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. elections."

Ohio Republican Governor Mike Dewine, however, was ahead of the times.

According to Cleveland.com, "newly revealed text messages and other documents suggest" the GOP leader "personally solicited" a portion of dark money he received to boost his gubernatorial campaign in 2018 from FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, who has since been indicted on bribery charges.

"Chuck. Can u call me?" DeWine wrote Jones on Oct. 13, 2018, according to the report, noting "that a teachers’ union gave a million dollars the day before to a group backing his Democratic rival."

After Jones forwarded the message to Mike Dowling, a FirstEnergy senior vice president, Dowling wrote, "Chuck – go ahead and call Mike DeWine on the $500k. It’s going to RGA’s C(4) called State Solutions. All set."

RGA refers the "pro-DeWine Republican Governor’s Association," according to Cleveland.com.

The news outlet reports, "Records show FirstEnergy had already spent millions backing DeWine, including its subsidiary giving $500,000 to" RGA "just two days prior. By Oct. 16, 2018, the FirstEnergy men agreed to a 'dark money' contribution, which are unlimited in size and not publicly disclosed.'"

Cleveland.com reports:

*When DeWine came looking for a boost with his October 2018 text message to Jones, FirstEnergy’s top executives wondered if they had already done enough. The company had done 'more than anyone,' Dowling told Jones in a text message. Dowling, FirstEnergy’s top lobbying agent, texted Jones that DeWine 'already knows about' the $500,000 contribution that FirstEnergy’s subsidiary provided to the RGA that week. The two mulled how to respond but made up their mind to provide another donation by Oct. 16. Jones told Dowling he’d call DeWine that evening to tell him.

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yost prosecutor for firstenergy but works for dewine?

feed

ohio cap jrnl

...

When asked by OCJ/WEWS why some of the alleged major players haven’t been subpoenaed yet, Entin responded with options.

“It could mean that the government believes that it has a strong enough case to go forward against the defendants,” he said.

Another possibility is that the government doesn’t have a strong enough case, actors are cooperating and giving information without an order or prosecutors are still investigating specific individuals.

OCJ/WEWS asked Gov. Mike DeWine if he had been subpoenaed in the scandal, and if he hadn’t, if he was anticipating being subpoenaed. He responded “no” to both questions.

Attorney General Dave Yost, as well as a few former lawmakers, have been subpoenaed. The new documents revealed that more than 30 companies had as well.

>Subpoenaed companies</h4>

Records from the following companies were subpoenaed: Allen, Stovall, Neuman, Fisher & Ashton LLP; Apple, Inc.; Amalgamated Bank; Arena Online; AT&T; Centric Bank; CGI Investigation, LLC; Charles Schwab; Crossroads Media; Discover Products, Inc; Fifth Third Bank; FirstEnergy; First National Bank of Pennsylvania; Forcht Bank, NA; Google; FPI Strategies, LLC; Huntington National Bank; JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.; Mighty Group; Nordic Construction; Ohio AFL-CIO; Partners for Progress, Inc.; Paychex, Inc.; PNC Bank, N.A.; Red Maverick Media; Storytellers Mail, LLC; The Community Bank; The Union Bank; T-Mobile; United Bank and Verizon Wireless.

Forensic extractions of cell phones were also conducted and provided to the court during pre-trial discovery, according to the document.

Once looking inside each of the subpoenas, the government was clearly looking for specific people or organizations. The companies just signed the authenticity form and didn’t spell out the records, except Huntington.

Records given to the government</h4>

Jeffrey Longstreth, who ended up pleading guilty, had his name come up numerous times in the Huntington records.

Each of the following had numerous or extensive documents given.

JPL & Associates had their deposits, checking statements, checks and withdrawals and wire transfers.

Ohio Precious Metals Association Inc., John Longstreth and Constant Content Co. had a significant amount of information given, including wire transfers, some of which weren’t dated, safe deposit box access and canceled checks.

Right Digital LLC had wire transfers, deposits and statements given.

Hardworking Ohioans, one of the major so-called dark money groups whose creator is still a working lobbyist at the Statehouse, had wire transfers, deposits and withdrawals.

Jeffrey Longstreth and 17 Consulting Group LLC, affiliated with Borges, had wire transfers, deposits and canceled checks given....

Shortly after that flight, the “Unholy Alliance” began to take form. Using millions of dollars routed through FirstEnergy Service, FirstEnergy Solutions, in partnership with Householder, built and engaged a team of lobbyists, political strategists, 501(c)(4) entities, attorneys, consulting firms and media companies to create a machine that would allow the combined FirstEnergy entities to covertly put over $60 million into introducing, passing and protecting from referendum what would become known in 2019 as House Bill 6 (“H.B. 6”), the “Ohio Clean Air Program.” 40. The first step was creating a mechanism that would allow FirstEnergy Solutions and others to contribute money to the effort outside the public’s eye. To that end, on January 26, 2017, Partners for Progress was incorporated in the State of Delaware. Partners for Progress described itself as engaging in activities consistent with Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Instead, as Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose pointed out in his August 27, 2019 complaint to the Ohio Elections Commission, Partners for Progress turned out to be a Political Action Committee in disguise. 41. FirstEnergy Corp. transferred $5 million to Partners for Progress shortly after its formation. The 2017 IRS Form 990 return filed by Partners for Progress, which designates a longtime lobbyist for FirstEnergy Corp. as its principal officer, lists that deposit as Partners for Progress’s sole source of revenue for 2017. Partners for Progress would go on to serve as a key intermediary for financial transactions between FirstEnergy Corp., FirstEnergy Service, FirstEnergy Solutions and other members of the Unholy Alliance. 42. On February 6, 2017, another 501(c)(4) entity, Generation Now, was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. Like Partners for Progress, Generation Now describes itself as being “organized exclusively for the promotion of social welfare and economic

...

On July 16, 2019, the conference committee working on the voluminous budget bill finally agreed to a single version of that legislation, and both chambers passed it on July 17, 2019. It was signed into law the next day. On the same day that the budget impasse ended, the Senate also passed H.B. 6 and sent it back to the House for concurrence. The House soon concurred, and the bill was swiftly signed into law. In a few short months, the Unholy Alliance had taken an idea that received no serious consideration during the previous General Assembly and transformed it into a top legislative priority on par with the state operating budget. The reasons for this are clear: with a billion-dollar corporate bailout at stake for FirstEnergy, and millions of dollars of political influence at stake for Speaker Householder and his cohorts, H.B. 6 was the was the gasoline in the engine of corruption driving the Unholy Alliance’s efforts. 68. Immediately after passage of H.B. 6, an effort was mobilized to repeal H.B. 6 through a ballot referendum. Under Ohio law, in order to place a referendum on the ballot, a group must collect 1,000 certified signatures and submit proposed ballot language to the Ohio Attorney General for approval. The approval ensures that the description of the referendum meets the "fair and truthful" standard outlined in the Ohio Revised Code. If the Ohio Attorney General approves the language, and the Ohio Secretary of State certifies the signatures collected, the proponents of the ballot referendum must then collect signatures from registered voters totaling six percent of the voters who participated in the last

...

sources had linked to the Alliance’s multimillion-dollar effort to pressure legislators into voting in favor of H.B. 6. 5 80. Householder continued to do his part as well, with his campaign committee, Friends of Larry Householder, doling out almost $80,000 in donations directly to favored candidates. 81. Throughout the 2020 Ohio Primary Election, Unholy Alliance members used the anonymity provided by Generation Now’s status as an IRS 501(c)(4), coupled with the anonymity provided by Coalition For Growth & Opportunity’s status as an IRS 501(c)(4) entity and the routing of the money through Growth & Opportunity PAC to prevent the public and regulators from discovering their efforts to influence the outcome of the election, to make contributions to candidates in excess of allowable limits and to avoid reporting political activity, all in violation of RC 1315.55, Ohio’s Money Laundering statute. 82. The benefits of being a member of the Unholy Alliance were more than political, they were personal and monetary. 83. Between February 6, 2017 through July 21, 2020, the Unholy Alliance caused over $400,000 in benefits to be transferred to Householder. Moneys transferred through Generation Now to JPL & Associates and other accounts controlled by Longstreth were used to pay attorneys working on a private legal matter for Householder, to satisfy a civil judgment that was levied against Householder in his personal capacity, to pay Householder’s campaign expenses, to pay the taxes on and improve a residence owned by Householder in the State of Florida and to pay credit card bills on Householder’s behalf.

...

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:{:{COLUMBUS (AP) — A former top utility regulator awaiting trial on charges he took millions in bribes in conjunction with the largest corruption scandal in Ohio’s history died by suicide on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Franklin County Coroner’s Office said. Sam Randazzo, 74, the one-time chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, faced the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison if convicted of the dozens of criminal charges he faced in simultaneous federal and state investigations. He had pleaded not guilty to all of them, most notably the allegation that he accepted a $4.3 million bribe from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. in exchange for regulatory favors.}:

A spokesperson for the county coroner’s office said Randazzo was found unresponsive at a building he owned in Columbus at just before noon. Email newsletter signup Sign up for our daily email newsletter The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ohio Attorney General’s Office and office of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who initially appointed Randazzo to the PUCO, all declined immediate comment. FirstEnergy has admitted to using dark money groups to fund a $60 million bribery plot that allowed former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to win the speakership, elect his allies and pass and defend a $1 billion nuclear bailout bill, known as House Bill 6, for two of its affiliated nuclear plants.

A jury convicted Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges last year on federal racketeering charges for their roles in the scheme. Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Borges to five. Both have appealed. Randazzo resigned his regulatory post in November 2020 after FBI agents searched his Columbus townhome and FirstEnergy revealed in security filings what it said were bribery payments of $4.3 million for his future help at the commission a month before DeWine nominated him as Ohio’s top utility regulator. He is the second person that was accused as part of the sweeping investigation to take his own life.

Long-time Statehouse lobbyist Neil Clark, one of the five people initially arrested in the probe in July 2020, died by suicide in March 2021 after pleading not guilty. The remaining two men, Juan Cespedes and Jeffrey Longstreth, pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the government in the ongoing inquiry.}:

Read more at: https://irontontribune.com/2024/04/11/ex-utility-regulator-charged-in-firstenergy-scheme-dies-by-suicide/

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===

AN 4 24

Next to gerrymandering, the biggest institutional driver of dangerous and destructive political misrepresentation in Ohio and across America is the U.S. Supreme Court’s disastrous 2010 Citizens United ruling allowing unbridled, dark money, pay-to-play corruption, which has now led to the biggest political bribery scandal in state history.

The central feature of that criminal racketeering scheme was the use of 501(c)(4) dark money groups by FirstEnergy and now-imprisoned former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to launder campaign donations and prop up the candidacies of politicians who would support an unnecessary $1.3 billion bailout for the utilities industry at the expense of consumers.

Corporate dark money largess

Householder’s dark money group, Generation Now, has pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy, and was used by FirstEnergy to funnel more than $60 million worth of bribes to Householder’s political machine to make him Ohio House Speaker and pass the bailout. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bailout the same day it was passed.

$15 million of the Generation Now came via another dark money group, Partners for Progress. FirstEnergy gave $25 million to Partners for Progress between 2017 and 2019. A FirstEnergy lobbyist named Dan McCarthy was listed as the principal of Partners for Progress in 2017, later leaving to become DeWine’s legislative affairs director where he lobbied to pass the House Bill 6 bailout. Certain FirstEnergy executives were also involved in choosing the three directors of Partners for Progress, two of whom were FirstEnergy lobbyists.

FirstEnergy also gave $1 million in 2017 to a dark money group called Freedom Frontier supporting Jon Husted as he made a Republican Party primary bid for the nomination to run for governor. The group then supported DeWine after Husted dropped out of the primary race to become his running mate.

In 2018, FirstEnergy donated $2.5 million to a Republican Governors Association-affiliated dark money group called State Solutions backing DeWine for governor. In 2019, they gave $300,000 to another dark money group called Securing Ohio’s Future, for a grand total of nearly $4 million in dark money to support DeWine/Husted.

Leaving no pocket unfilled, FirstEnergy also made a $300,000 contribution in 2019 to a dark money group called Liberty Ohio, which a FirstEnergy lobbyist tied to now-Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, calling it “the Huffman C4.”

As far as traditional campaign spending, now-indicted former FirstEnergy executive Chuck Jones hosted a fundraiser for DeWine at his home. The company also gave nearly $1 million in traditional campaign money to legislators, other officeholders, candidates and political parties. This included FirstEnergy’s largely employee-funded political action committee, which gave $25,202 to the 2018 DeWine campaign and $10,000 to his inaugural committee. Alongside Jones providing $12,700 in food and beverages for the DeWine fundraiser, the total in traditional funding comes to $47,902. After the scandal broke in 2020, DeWine pledged to donate $35,000 of that, noting at the time that FirstEnergy executives had not been charged.

Influence peddling

Shortly before winning the 2018 race for governor, DeWine met with FirstEnergy executives at an RGA fundraiser in downtown Columbus on Oct. 10, 2018, the Dayton Daily News first reported. Shortly after, FirstEnergy Solutions donated $500,000 to the Republican Governor’s Association, according to tax records.

Shortly after winning the 2018 race for governor, on Dec. 18, 2018, DeWine, Husted, Jones and now-indicted FirstEnergy executive Michael Dowling met at the Columbus Athletic Club. That same night, Jones and Dowling went from that dinner to the German Village condo of FirstEnergy lobbyist Sam Randazzo, where they seem to have negotiated a $4.3 million payment that FirstEnergy has admitted in a deferred prosecution agreement was a bribe.

When Randazzo was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in December 2023 on 11 felony counts of bribery and embezzlement, the charges included allegations that Randazzo had a corrupt relationship with the FirstEnergy executives stretching back to 2010, allegedly serving as general counsel to the Industrial Energy Users of Ohio while secretly being paid as a consultant for FirstEnergy: Randazzo settled disputes over electricity rates on terms acceptable to the energy companies, then channeled the settlement money through shell companies where he skimmed off a portion, the indictment said.

Between 2016 and 2019, FirstEnergy paid $13 million into Randazzo’s shell companies, a state-level indictment of Randazzo said. Of that, Randazzo passed $7.75 million to the industrial users and pocketed the rest, it said. DeWine’s chief of staff, Laurel Dawson, was married to a man who had been a paid lobbyist for FirstEnergy — and who had received a $10,000 loan from Randazzo in 2016, the indictment said.

In January 2019, as Randazzo was being vetted to chair the PUCO, he told Dawson, DeWine’s then-chief of staff, about the $4.3 million payment, but he did not tell her about the other millions he had received from FirstEnergy, the indictment said. Randazzo didn’t report any of the payments to the Ohio Ethics Commission, it added.

A former aide gave DeWine a 198-page dossier reporting shady financial connections between Randazzo and FirstEnergy on Jan. 28, 2019. But the governor’s office says that Dawson never told the governor about the $4.3 million payment before DeWine nominated Randazzo to chair the PUCO on Feb. 4, 2019.

According to the state indictment, Randazzo spent the rest of the year and part of the next helping to draft and openly lobby for the corrupt bailout. The bailout was passed and signed in July 2019.

Householder and four others were arrested in July 2020. But it wasn’t until the following November — when the FBI searched Randazzo’s condo — that Dawson says she told the governor about the $4.3 million payout.

DeWine has staunchly defended Dawson, just as he defended McCarthy, the former aide and FirstEnergy lobbyist with the dark money bribery pass-through group. McCarthy resigned his position in September 2021, but DeWine has kept Dawson on staff as an advisor earning more than $180,000 per year. In September 2023, DeWine appointed McCarthy to the state racing commission.

What’s happened since?

After the scandal broke, the nuclear part of Ohio House Bill 6 was eventually repealed, but the law’s gutting of the state’s renewable energy portfolio still stands, as does the bailout of two 1950s-era coal plants, one of which is in Indiana.

Householder and former state GOP Chairman Matt Borges are serving 20 years and five years respectively in federal prison for their roles. Two other lobbyists cooperated and are awaiting sentencing, while a third died by suicide wearing a “DeWine for governor” t-shirt in June 2021. Randazzo died by suicide on April 9, 2024.

FirstEnergy shareholders have filed a lawsuit, an ongoing case in which DeWine has been subpoenaed and Husted has been called on to give a sworn deposition.

Asked this week about the Oct. 10, 2018 RGA fundraiser meeting with FirstEnergy executives, DeWine claimed, “I don’t remember that. I’m not disputing it. I just don’t remember. I don’t remember the meeting.”

As for the Dec. 18, 2018 dinner with FirstEnergy executives, DeWine has said he doesn’t recall Randazzo’s name coming up.

Asked this week about the $4 million that FirstEnergy spent in dark money supporting his bid for governor, DeWine claimed he didn’t know about it.

*Sure, Jan.

After the death of Randazzo, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has said the state’s prosecution will proceed, and Jones and Dowling, who have pleaded not guilty, will still have to face their day in court.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Ken Parker has said his team will also continue to pursue the widespread corruption case.

Citizens United

Deploying one of the most absurd, naive, and destructively dumb statements I’ve ever read in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from my lifetime, then-Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2010 authored the landmark campaign finance decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission:

“(W)e now conclude that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. … The fact that speakers (i.e., donors) may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that these officials are corrupt. … The appearance of influence or access, furthermore, will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy,” Kennedy claimed.

What combination of delusional hallucinogenics was Kennedy on what he made that obnoxious declaration?

As then-Justice John Paul Stevens obsesrved in his decent, the majority’s Citizens United ruling is “a rejection of the common sense of the American people.”

This entire dark money political bribery and money laundering scheme in Ohio was made possible exactly because a narrow majority of Republican justices on the U.S. Supreme Court declared that for the purposes of the constitution, corporations are people and money is speech.

They followed the Citizens United ruling with several others that removed any and all accountability for dark money political spending, including upholding the SpeechNow.org v. FEC appellate ruling months after Citizens United, and their McCutcheon v. FEC ruling in 2014 by another 5-4 vote.

Combined, these decisions have cleared the way for wealthy individual donors, corporations, and other moneyed special interests to spend unlimited dark money on elections. And oh boy, have they ever.

Outside groups have poured billions of dollars into influencing American elections since the Citizens United ruling.

Take just our races in Ohio for one of our seats in the U.S. Senate, and just outside spending for or against candidates: According to OpenSecrets.org, in 2004 the amount was just over $45,000. In 2010, it was nearly $3.5 million. In 2016, it was more than $54 million. In 2022, it was just shy of $100 million dollars.

Restoring representation

This is all so far beyond ridiculous there’s nary a word for it. Gerrymandered rigging of district maps to guarantee supermajority party power goes hand-in-hand with a system of campaign finance that allows for this kind of pervasive pay-to-play corruption infecting government.

If voters are ever to truly save Ohio and the American Republic by restoring true representation of the people and the people’s interests, poisonous gerrymandering and corrupt political spending have to be addressed as first priorities.

This should have been done here in Ohio nearly four years ago when the FirstEnergy scandal first broke. But supermajority Republican lawmakers, with DeWine by their side, instead spent 2021 and 2022 imposing more unconstitutionally gerrymandered maps. And while they’ve found time to indulge every culture war distraction on the extremist right-wing menu, they’ve done absolutely nothing to address widespread public corruption.

This relentless, belligerent misrepresentation of the people of Ohio and our best interests has only led to miserable public outcomes, and for myself, as a seventh generation Ohioan whose family moved here in 1805, it all embarrasses us deeply in the eyes of the nation.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and Twitter.

https://www.alternet.org/larry-householder-2659570092/

an 3 23

no lnx

in Ohio, two well-known Republicans — Larry Householder, former speaker for the Ohio House of Representatives, and ex-Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges — have been facing federal corruption charges in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme. And on Thursday, March 9, a jury in Cincinnati found both of them guilty.

According to CBS News, the jury found Householder and Borges "guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering, after about 9.5 half hours of deliberations over two days."

After the verdict was handed down, Kenneth Parker — a federal prosecutor in the case — told reporters, "(Larry) Householder sold the Statehouse, and thus, he ultimately betrayed the people of the great state of Ohio he was elected to serve…. Through its verdict today, the jury reaffirmed that the illegal acts committed by both men will not be tolerated and that they should be held accountable."

READ MORE: Fascism in a nutshell: Is America ready to trade democracy for cheap gas?

CBS News explains, "Prosecutors alleged that Householder orchestrated a scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergyCorp. to secure his power in the (Ohio State) Legislature, elect his allies — and then, to pass and defend a $1 billion nuclear power plant bailout benefiting the electric utility. They alleged that Borges, then a lobbyist, sought to bribe an operative for inside information on the referendum to overturn the bailout."

CBS News points out that FirstEnergy "admitted" to "using a network of dark money groups to fund the scheme and even bribing the state's top utility regulator, Sam Randazzo."

Randazzo, according to CBS News, "resigned as chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio after an FBI search of his home, but he has not been charged and denies wrongdoing."

The New York Times' April Rubin notes, "Previously, Jeffrey Longstreth, Mr. Householder's campaign and political strategist, and Juan Cespedes, a lobbyist, pleaded guilty to their roles in the racketeering."

READ MORE: 'Racketeering, bribery and money laundering': Ohio House votes to expel Republican ex-speaker facing federal charges

Read CBS News' full report at this link.

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“The largest bribery, money-laundering scheme ever perpetrated”

The evidence of FirstEnergy’s illicit use of political spending comes in the form ofan FBI criminal complaint.

Last month, federal prosecutors accused Ohio House Speaker of the House Larry Householder of accepting $61 million in bribes from FirstEnergy, in exchange for passingone of the worst anti-climate laws in the nation:a $1.6 billion taxpayer bailout of the company’s failing coal and nuclear plants, and the removal of all state incentives to build renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

FirstEnergy’s alleged attempt to buy off Householder constitutes “likely the largest bribery, money-laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of the state of Ohio,” said David DeVillers, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio who is prosecuting the case.

But the FBI’s complaint is likely just the tip of a rapidly melting iceberg. While FirstEnergy has yet to be officially charged, the companyhas received subpoenas in the ongoing federal investigation. And experts tracking the case don’t expect FirstEnergy to emerge unscathed.

"We are not done with this case," DeVillers said.

“Citizens must demand that politicians stop taking money” from FirstEnergy

The FBI may not yet have enough evidence to be done with FirstEnergy’s case. But climate policy experts who track electric utilities say there’s already more than enough evidence that politicians should be done with FirstEnergy’s money.

“Across the country, most private utilities are resisting the clean energy transition, and many are buying off politicians with campaign contributions to do it,” wrote Leah Stokes, a political science professor at UC Santa Barbara whowrote a book about electric utility corruption,in a recent piece about the FirstEnergy scandal for Vox.

Indeed, the FirstEnergy scandal is just the latest “in a wave of utility wrongdoing that has come to light in recent years across the nation,” Justin Gilliswrote in The New York Times yesterday.

“Corruption like this within the electric utility industry is a barrier to solving the climate crisis,” Stokes wrote. “But the way forward is clear: Citizens must demand that politicians stop taking money from these fossil fuel companies and start holding them accountable.”

Gillis agreed. “Using money to influence politicians and regulators is nothing new,” he wrote. “But there is reason to be especially alert to it now, because these companies too often are standing in the way of the switch to clean energy that the country so desperately needs.”

The 2020 election is awash with FirstEnergy PAC money

Tracking all of FirstEnergy’s political contributions will be difficult. The company has numerous subsidiaries which are constantly being re-named. And if the FBI’s complaint is any indication, there are likely many dark groups quietly receiving money from the company.

However, FirstEnergy’s federal PAC donations during the 2020 election cycle are a good window into how widespread the utility’s political operation is, and who is most important to the company’s anti-climate goals.

Since January 2019, FirstEnergy’s PAC has given more than $500,000 to more than 350 state lawmakers; nearly $300,000 to 54 federal lawmakers, and more than $450,000 to at least 50 political party organizations and PACs.You can explore the individual contributions in this Google spreadsheet.

In the meantime, here are just a few examples I pulled out from the data of public officials who are taking FirstEnergy money this election cycle, despite the company’s implication in a $61 million anti-climate bribery scheme.

Ohio’s entire congressional delegation

FirstEnergy’s federal PAC has given a combined $115,500 to members of Ohio’s U.S. House and Senate delegations during the 2020 campaign cycle.

Every single member of Ohio’s U.S. Congressional delegation is currently taking FirstEnergy PAC money.No incumbent from either party has refused it, nor have any indicated they would return it after the release of the FBI’s indictment.

The U.S. lawmakers from Ohio who have taken the most FirstEnergy PAC money this cycle are Democratic Representatives Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan, and Republican Representatives Bob Latta, Bill Johnson and Anthony Gonzalez. Each have received the max donation of $10,000....sherrod brwn 5k$

....

no lnx docs

A dozen House Democrats, including the House Majority Leader

FirstEnergy’s PAC has given a combined $63,000 to 12 individual House Democrats this election cycle.

The top Democratic recipient of FirstEnergy PAC money in the House (who’s not from Ohio) is New Jersey Rep. Donald Norcross. The Sierra Club has called Norcross “a leader on climate change.”

The second ranking Democrat in the House, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, is also a top Democratic recipient of FirstEnergy PAC money. Hoyer’s campaign fund received $5,000 from the utility, and his leadership PAC received another $5,000.

Click HERE to see the entire chart, get a shareable and embeddable version, and/or explore the data behind it.

Prosecutors, judges, and police

FirstEnergy’s federal PAC has given a combined $10,490 to state and local law enforcement officials during the 2020 campaign cycle.

The top recipient from this group was West Virginia’s top legal officer, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.The pro-coal Republican notoriously led the multi-state and industry lawsuit against the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, and successfully halted the first significant climate regulation in America. Morrisey currently has more than six times the cash on hand as his Democratic challenger.

Other top recipients of FirstEnergy in the law enforcement category include Kandy Fatheree, a Democrat running for sheriff in Summit County, Ohio, and Tim Armstead, the Chief Justice of West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals.

Click HERE to see the entire chart, get a shareable and embeddable version, and/or explore the data behind it.

Bonus recipient: A former top Trump advisor

This isn’t about FirstEnergy’s PAC, but it’s notable because it shines a light on what FirstEnergy is trying to do when it contributes to federal officials.

Since President Trump was inaugurated, FirstEnergy has spent more than $8 million lobbying the federal government on energy, climate and environment policy—and has hired at least one lobbyist close to Trump to do it.

Approximately $1.3 million of FirstEnergy’s lobbying budget since 2017 has gone to Jeff Miller, the former vice chair of President Trump’s inaugural committee and one of Trump’s “top fundraisers.”

FirstEnergy currently pays Miller about $440,000 per year to lobby Congress, the president, and the vice president on “issues related to grid resilience” and “organized electricity markets.”

Other FirstEnergy lobbying priorities include the Trump administration’s repeal of Obama-era climate regulations; two bills to ease pollution control requirements for power plants and industrial facilities, and a bill to allow more toxic emissions from power plants that burn coal waste byproducts.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072020/ohio-illinois-bribery-scandals-utilities-climate-change-commonwealth-edison-firstenergy-householder

25th?

cOLUMBUS, Ohio—Among other things, the king-size bribery scandals in Illinois and Ohio dominating the headlines lately are a vivid illustration of how utilities routinely exert financial and political power to shield themselves from the risks of doing business, often at the expense of consumers.

The dynamic is so pervasive that some analysts and advocates say they thought they had lost the ability to be shocked by it—until the revelations of the last 10 days.

"I was gobsmacked," said Ned Hill, an Ohio State University economist who had testified against the legislation now at the center of the bribery probe. The behavior described in legal documents, he said, looks "like the outtakes from The Godfather."

Hill and other close observers of the legislative process say utilities have too much political power and operate in a campaign finance system that makes it too easy for them to get what they want, and that often leads to unfair competition.

on July 17, federal prosecutors in Illinois announced that the utility Commonwealth Edison had allegedly provided jobs and favors to people associated with the Illinois House speaker, in exchange for legislation that included a bailout of nuclear power plants. Four days later, federal prosecutors in Ohio made a more startling announcement in an unrelated but similar case, charging the Ohio House speaker, Republican Larry Householder, and four other people, with taking more than $60 million from the utility FirstEnergy in exchange for passing a nuclear bailout.

The utilities' unrestrained influence also has implications for climate change and the environment, although those factors differ widely in the Illinois and Ohio cases because of differences in the bills passed in each state. But environmental advocates say both the Illinois and Ohio examples are alarming because they show a system in which all concerns take a back seat to profits of utilities.

"When companies like ComEd and FirstEnergy have billions of dollars at stake, spending tens of millions of dollars on campaign contributions, bribes and other activities is sort of a down payment, and that's sad,"said Howard Learner, president and executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago.

The Illinois and Ohio scandals touch on hotly contested policy debates about the transition to renewable energy and whether nuclear power, which is carbon-free, is so important to that transition that it needs to be subsidized.

But David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group that investigates corruption by utilities, said such debates are largely beside the point.

The core problem, he said, is something much simpler: Utilities have shown a pattern of trying "to spend money to influence policy in ways that, above all, protect or strengthen their monopolies and grow their profits, agnostic of the climate impacts."

Pomerantz said he thinks that reducing the political power of utilities will be good for renewable energy and the climate in the long run, because renewable energy has public support and is competitive on the market.

"If we get the corrupting influence of utility money out of politics, I'll very happily take my chances with honest policy debates that engage the public, which broadly supports the rapid transition from fossil fuels to clean energy," he said.

For Utilities, the Best of Both Worlds

The Illinois and Ohio scandals are tied to the ways utility companies have responded to the competition brought on by electricity deregulation. Both states are among the 15 or so that implemented deregulation laws in the late 1990s and early 2000s, leading to systems today in which power plants must compete on an open market.

At one time, nuclear and coal-fired power plants were strong competitors on that market, but now they are struggling because of the low costs to operate plants that run on natural gas, along with the plunging costs of wind and solar power.

Rather than close plants that are not profitable or barely profitable, plant owners have chosen to seek government subsidies.

Illinois passed the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016, one of the measures cited in the U.S. attorney's recent filing as being tainted by corruption. The law provided subsidies for two nuclear power plants and included a major expansion of the state's support for renewable energy and energy efficiency. The nuclear plants are owned by Exelon, which is ComEd's parent company.

The law's supporters argued that the plants were a vital source of carbon-free power and that they were important for jobs and the economy.

Other states have enacted their own laws or regulatory actions in recent years that include nuclear subsidies as part of a package or a larger agenda that also expanded use of renewable energy. They include Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

In Ohio, it was a different story, with elected officials hostile to renewable energy. House Bill 6, passed in 2019, gave more than a billion dollars to two nuclear power plants owned by a company with ties to FirstEnergy. It also provided subsidies for two coal-fired power plants owned by Ohio Valley Electric Corp., and canceled the requirements of a 2008 law that had required utilities to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Environmental groups that had supported the 2016 Illinois law opposed the 2019 one in Ohio. But the laws are alike in that they started as nuclear bailouts and then sponsors added whatever provisions they needed to get them passed.

Both laws subvert the market, which is unfair to competing owners of power plants, said Michael Haugh, an energy policy consultant who has done work for the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, the state's utility consumer advocate, and for the R Street Institute, a think tank that advocates for open markets and limited government.

The result is that utilities have a system in which they can earn substantial profits in situations where they are well-equipped to compete, and can get government protection to guarantee profits when they are ill-equipped to compete.

"They found the way to walk the line in-between," Haugh said, which, he added, is "the best of both worlds" for the companies.

Favors and Inducements

Documents in the Illinois case describe years of favors and other inducements that ComEd provided to a "Public Official A." Although the documents do not name the official, they refer to the person as speaker of the Illinois House during the period of the alleged crimes. That was Mike Madigan, a Democrat, who remains speaker.

ComEd agreed to pay a fine of $200 million and cooperate with the investigation, while Madigan has not been charged. A spokeswoman for Madigan said he "never made a legislative decision with improper motives and has engaged in no wrongdoing here."

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, also a Democrat, said at a public appearance last week that he is "furious with what is being reported" and that Madigan has a lot that he needs to answer for, to authorities and voters.

The agreement between prosecutors and ComEd was the largest development so far in an investigation that Chicago media have been reporting on since last summer, based on reports of authorities raiding officials' homes and offices.

Threats and Payoffs

In contrast to the slow burn of the Illinois probe, the one in Ohio remained a secret until authorities made arrests in the early hours of July 21.

The Ohio arrests included not only Householder, the speaker of the House, but also four of his associates who were part of what prosecutors said was the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio issued an affidavit with much more detail than the documents in Illinois, describing how "Company A" provided nearly all of more than $60 million that went to a dark money group controlled by Householder, which he then used to help the company, help his political career, and cover a variety of personal expenses. Company A is FirstEnergy.

The affidavit tells the story of a plan that took years to unfold, starting in 2016 when a FirstEnergy subsidiary, FirstEnergy Solutions, said that its two Ohio nuclear plants were losing money and would need to close unless they got help from the government.

That same year, Householder was planning a return to the Ohio House, running for a seat in the body where he had served from 1997 to 2004, including a previous stint as speaker.

Householder narrowly won election by his colleagues as House speaker in 2019 and soon released the first draft of a nuclear bailout measure that he said was a high priority.

He rammed the bill through in the House and Senate, using threats and promises to cajole his colleagues to support the measure and over the objections of a broad range of business and environmental groups.Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed the bill.

But the fight didn't end when the bill became law. Opponents of the bill announced that they would gather signatures for a referendum to give voters a chance to repeal the law. The dark money group and affiliated groups responded with an aggressive campaign to prevent the opponents from getting the signatures they needed.

This included buying up contracts of national signature gathering firms, essentially paying them to not work in Ohio. It meant getting contact information for individual signature gatherers and sending them text messages offering $2,500 and a plane ticket to quit their jobs. It also meant hiring "blockers," paid operatives who followed signature-gatherers and tried to persuade the public not to sign.

Meanwhile, Householder's allies wanted inside information from the referendum campaign, so they paid $15,000 to get an employee of the campaign to divulge secrets, and threatened to burn his house down if he revealed the existence of the payoff. The threat was phrased as if it were a joke, but the threat was clear, the employee told prosecutors.

The push for a ballot measure ended in failure, with organizers saying they were unable to get enough signatures because of all the dirty tricks.

While many of the details in the affidavit were shocking—like Householder using money from the dark money group to pay for repairs to his second home in Florida—it was well-known that Householder was extremely close to FirstEnergy. For example, Ohio media had reported that the company had hosted Householder and his son on the company's jet to attend President Donald Trump's inauguration.

"It was no secret that this was the quid pro quo for FirstEnergy helping Householder get the speakership," said Janine Migden-Ostrander, a principal at the Regulatory Assistance Project who was head of the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel from 2004 to 2011.

What was a secret was that Householder controlled the dark money groups and the extent to which FirstEnergy was financing the groups, she said.

DeWine said on Thursday that the law should be repealed and replaced in light of the evidence of corruption.

Meanwhile, FirstEnergy has said it did nothing wrong.

"This is a serious and disturbing situation," said Chuck Jones, FirstEnergy's CEO, in a conference call with analysts on Friday. "Ethical behavior and upholding the highest standards of conduct are foundational values for the entire FirstEnergy family and me personally."

The company has said little about the specifics of the allegations. Householder has not commented on the charges since his arrest and his office did not respond to a request for comment.

Both the Illinois and Ohio investigations are ongoing.

A Wake-Up Call?

Analysts and advocates are hopeful that the scandals will serve as a wakeup call for the public about the deep flaws in the ways utilities influence the political system.

Hill, the Ohio State economist, said he hopes the scandals lead to fair competition and lower costs for consumers. He is wary of the possibility that environmental groups may respond by saying that Ohio should provide large subsidies for renewable energy, which he thinks would be taking the wrong lesson from what has happened.

"Green energy wins in competitive markets," he said, citing the low prices of wind and solar power.

Another part of learning from the scandals is to recognize that some of the harmful activity is legal and shouldn't be, like utilities' ability to influence policy through untraceable donations to dark money groups, said Pomerantz of the Energy and Policy Institute.

"The line between what is legal corruption and illegal corruption in this country is incredibly fuzzy and porous," he said.

PUBLISHED UNDER:

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072020/ohio-illinois-bribery-scandals-utilities-climate-change-commonwealth-edison-firstenergy-householder

25th?

The dynamic is so pervasive that some analysts and advocates say they thought they had lost the ability to be shocked by it—until the revelations of the last 10 days.

But David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group that investigates corruption by utilities, said such debates are largely beside the point.

For Utilities, the Best of Both Worlds

Rather than close plants that are not profitable or barely profitable, plant owners have chosen to seek government subsidies.

The law's supporters argued that the plants were a vital source of carbon-free power and that they were important for jobs and the economy.

"They found the way to walk the line in-between," Haugh said, which, he added, is "the best of both worlds" for the companies.

Favors and Inducements

Threats and Payoffs

In contrast to the slow burn of the Illinois probe, the one in Ohio remained a secret until authorities made arrests in the early hours of July 21.

The Ohio arrests included not only Householder, the speaker of the House, but also four of his associates who were part of what prosecutors said was the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history.

That same year, Householder was planning a return to the Ohio House, running for a seat in the body where he had served from 1997 to 2004, including a previous stint as speaker.

Householder narrowly won election by his colleagues as House speaker in 2019 and soon released the first draft of a nuclear bailout measure that he said was a high priority.

The push for a ballot measure ended in failure, with organizers saying they were unable to get enough signatures because of all the dirty tricks.

What was a secret was that Householder controlled the dark money groups and the extent to which FirstEnergy was financing the groups, she said.

DeWine said on Thursday that the law should be repealed and replaced in light of the evidence of corruption.

Meanwhile, FirstEnergy has said it did nothing wrong.

The company has said little about the specifics of the allegations. Householder has not commented on the charges since his arrest and his office did not respond to a request for comment.

Both the Illinois and Ohio investigations are ongoing.

A Wake-Up Call?

Analysts and advocates are hopeful that the scandals will serve as a wakeup call for the public about the deep flaws in the ways utilities influence the political system.

"Green energy wins in competitive markets," he said, citing the low prices of wind and solar power.

"The line between what is legal corruption and illegal corruption in this country is incredibly fuzzy and porous," he said.

PUBLISHED UNDER:

===

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder, an aide and lobbyists in a racketeering conspiracy.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbus released the criminal complaint against the state Republican leader and others while the defendants made their initial appearances via video front of a federal magistrate judge in Cincinnati.

Also charged via the 82-page complaint are former Ohio Republican Party Chair-turned-consultant Matt Borges, prominent lobbyist Neil Clark, FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Juan Cespedes,Householder aide Jeff Longstreth and the group Generation Now. The FBI on Tuesday morning arrested the five men.

You can read the full document :{here:(style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: or below.

John Caniglia, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Nearly 16 years ago to the day, Matt Borges stood in a Cleveland courtroom and admitted to a scandal involving campaign contributions and a powerful Ohio politician.

Today, Borges is accused in another courtroom and in another pay-to-play scheme involving another powerful Ohio politician.

He was arrested Tuesday on federal corruption charges involving an FBI investigation of House Speaker Larry Householder and the bailout of FirstEnergy by Ohio lawmakers.

Borges and Householder, as well as Householder aide Jeffrey Longstreth and lobbyists Neil Clark and Juan Cespedes, are accused of conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. Authorities alleged the company wired more than $60 million in bribes to a fund Householder controlled, according to court documents. The company has not been charged.

An 82-page FBI affidavit says Borges served as a lobbyist for FirstEnergy and acted as a key middleman in the scheme. He also was at the center of an attempt to thwart a referendum of the legislation, according to the FBI filing.

“It is beyond galling,” said Catherine Turcer of the government watchdog group, Common Cause Ohio. “Not many of us are given second chances. Matt Borges received a tremendous opportunity to mend fences and do better for Ohio. It doesn’t appear that that happened.”

Borges’ first legal troubles came in Cleveland.

Then-Ohio Treasurer Joe Deters appointed Borges to be his chief of staff in 1999, at the age of 27. Borges was a political whiz kid who interned for then-Gov. George Voinovich and was well-heeled in the art of campaigning. Some believed he was headed for Washington, D.C.

And then, at 32, his world crashed around Frank Gruttadauria. He pleaded guilty in state and federal courts in Cleveland to charges of running a $125 million scam as a broker for Lehman Brothers and later Cowen & Co. Clients later sued the firms for tens of millions of dollars.

Gruttadauria diverted money from several clients’ accounts and sent the funds to other investors’ accounts, which had dwindled, according to records and interviews. He also shipped out phony statements that said his clients had millions of dollars in their portfolios.

Federal prosecutors first charged Gruttadauria in 2002. After he was sentenced to seven years in prison, Cuyahoga County authorities also investigated him.

That’s when prosecutors linked Borges to Gruttadauria.

“We didn’t go looking for that,” A. Steven Dever, the chief trial counsel for then-Prosecutor Bill Mason, said Tuesday. “People in Columbus thought that it was a political smear job. They didn’t look at it as an attempt to influence government through campaign contributions.”

Prosecutors said Borges, as Deters’ chief of staff, instructed the state investments director to dole out state securities business to a shortlist of politically generous brokers.

Prosecutors said 51 brokers had the qualifications to handle bond business for Deters’ office, but they said Borges narrowed that to a preferred list of about 10. Gruttadauria was one of them. He gave a $50,000 donation earmarked to Deters in December 2001.

Borges pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, the unauthorized use of a public office for securing preferential treatment for brokers who made campaign contributions. Common Pleas Judge Eileen Gallagher fined him $1,000.

Borges later pushed to have his record expunged. The charges hit him hard. He said that he was radioactive, according to published reports, and he fought his way back to the chairmanship of the Ohio GOP in 2013, only to lose that when then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump cut ties with him.

In the Cleveland case, Borges’ attorneys railed against prosecutors. They said he was a victim of a witch hunt orchestrated by Democratic county prosecutors.

“This was not pay-to-play,” Borges’ attorney, Karl Schneider, said in 2004. “There was no evidence of it. If there was, after 14 months of investigation, you would have heard about it.”

Turcer, when talking about the new charges against Borges, paused.

“All you have to do is look back [16] years,” she said. “It’s a shocking day. It’s both surprising, and it’s not.”

no lnx many, video

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Who’s behind Ohioans for Energy Security’s ad campaign to scare voters?

Dave Anderson • August 28, 2019

Ohioans for Energy Security, a new entity blanketing Ohio with a wave of television ads defending the bailout of FirstEnergy Solutions, is brought to you by the same people who campaigned for the controversial bailout plan.

The group formed last month in Ohio as a for-profit Limited Liability Corporation. It just launched a $1 million ad campaign designed to scare voters away from signing petitions toplace a referendum on House Bill 6 on the 2020 ballot. The bill in question, passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Governor Mike DeWine in July, will force Ohio consumers to pay to bail out uncompetitive nuclear and coal plants in Ohio. It also rolls back Ohio’s life-and-money saving clean energy standards, which helped to support 112,000 jobs in the Buckeye State.

“In the coming weeks, don’t give your information to the Chinese government,” Ohioans for Energy Security tells visitors to its website. “Don’t sign their petitionallowing China control over Ohio.”

Ohioans for Energy Security’s website tells voters to call its hotline to report petition gatherers. Petition signatures for statewide referendums are submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State and Attorney General, not the Chinese government.

Ohioans for Energy Security points to several reports that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has been among the banks that financed several new gas projects in Ohio developed by Clean Energy Future, a company that opposed HB 6.

The Columbus Dispatch reviewed those reports and concluded that “the group behind the commercial offered no evidence that such a plot exists.” It didn’t find “any evidence that the Chinese government intends to play a role in the possible repeal of House Bill 6.”

The Cleveland Scene writes that the group’s “bonkers” first ad “continues with even less tenuous grasps on the issues surrounding HB 6.”

Ohioans for Energy Security doesn’t mention that the broad-based opposition to HB 6 includes consumer advocates, environmentalists, free market groups, health experts, and manufacturers, as a quick review of opponent testimony on the bill will show.

The pro-bailout group also doesn’t mention Securities and Exchange Commission filings that show the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has committed many millions of dollars to FirstEnergy Corp., the parent company that spawned FES.A March 2018 declaration by Charles Moore, FES’s chief restructuring officer, also included the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on a list of “interest parties and significant creditors” in FES’s bankruptcy case, under the subheading “Banks, Lenders, UCC Lien.”

Ohioans for Energy Security is led by the spokesperson for another pro-bailout group backed by FirstEnergy Solutions

Carlo Loparo is listed as the president of Ohioans for Energy Security on political issue ad disclosures on file with the Federal Communications Commission. Loparo also serves as the group’s public spokesperson.

Loparo is also the spokesperson for the Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance (OCEJA), a coalition “powered by FirstEnergy Solutions” that launched last fall with the help of the utility’s outside lobbyists and public relations consultants, and campaigned in support of HB 6.

Loparo is the president of the Columbus-based Loparo Public Relations, and boasts 25 years of experience in “media relations, strategic message development and crisis communications,” according to his firm’s website.

Amy Natoce, the vice president of Loparo Public Relations, was the political director for Dave Yost’s successful campaign for Ohio Attorney General. Yost will soon decide on whether to approve of revised summary language for the referendum petition, a first step toward getting the referendum on the ballot in 2020. Attorneys representing FES and Generation Now, Inc., a dark money group that spent millions on ads supporting HB 6, have been targeting Yost’s office with letters opposing the effort to put the issue on the ballot.

Ohioans for Energy Security’s first ad uses stock footage, features employees of FirstEnergy Solutions

“Don’t sign your name to a plan that kills Ohio jobs, harms Ohio communities, and endangers our energy independence,” Ohioans for Energy Security’s first ad tells viewers as stoic headshots of several individuals flash on screen.

The ad doesn’t identify those individuals, but at least three of the individuals appear to be recycled from stock footage that had previously been used in a 2017 Ohio ballot initiative ad around prescription drug prices.

Image from 2017 prescription drug ballot initiative ad

Image from 2019 Ohioans for Energy Security ad

Image from 2017 prescription drug ballot initiative ad

Image from 2019 Ohioans for a Secure Energy Future ad

Image from 2019 Ohioans for Energy Security ad

The 2017 ad which used the same stock photos, called “Step Forward,” no longer appears online, though Ballotpedia references it in a database of ads from the 2017 prescription drug initiative campaign. A copy was provided to the Energy and Policy Institute.

That 2017 ad was funded by “Ohio Taxpayers for Lower Drug Prices,” which employedRex Elsass, a Republican operative and the owner of Strategic Group for Media.

Some of Ohioans for Energy Security’s ad contracts on file with the FCC name as the buyer Strategic Media Placement, also owned by Elsass. The same firm made ad buys for Generation Now.

The Ohionans for Energy Security ad also includes several employees of FirstEnergy Solutions who also appeared in earlier ads supporting HB 6, produced by the dark money group Generation Now, Inc. Some also appeared in videos produced by the FES-backed Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance.

A screenshot of a Generation Now Facebook ad featuring Matt Messenger, who the ad did not not disclose is a project manager at FES’s Perry nuclear power plant.

Ohioans for Energy Security first ad features a similar image of Messenger, without disclosing his name or employer

Back in June, the Energy and Policy Institute asked a spokesperson for FES at Sitrick and Company why the utility’s employees were appearing in Generation Now’s ads, and if it was funding the group’s efforts. The spokesperson said he would “be happy to look into this and get back to you,” but then never responded with any further information.

A monthly fee statement filed in FES’s bankruptcy case later revealed that Sitrick & Company staff discussed EPI’s inquiry with “D. Griffing” and the “Dewey Square” team. David Griffing is the vice president of government affairs for FES. The Dewey Square Groupis a lobbying firm that has received nearly $800,000 for its work on FES’s bailout campaigns in Ohio and Pennsylvania, which included work on the launch and operations of the Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance.

Excerpt from Sitrick & Company’s filing in FES’s bankruptcy case discussing EPI’s inquiry regarding FES employees working with Generation Now

Links to Generation Now’s ad firm and a pro-Householder PAC backed by Murray Energy

The server for the group’s website – www.ohioansforenergysecurity.com – also hosts the websites of Elsass’s Strategy Group Company and Front Porch Strategies.

It also hosts a site – LarryHouseholderFightsforus.com – supporting Ohio’s Republican House Speaker Larry Householder, whose rise to the speakership was backed by FirstEnergy and Generation Now. Householder then led the drive to pass HB 6. The pro-Householder site is paid for by the Michigan-based Hardworking Americans Committee, which spent over $450,000 on ads opposing Householder’s Republican primary opponent Kevin Black in 2018.

Federal Elections Commission data shows the Hardworking Americans Committee received $50,000 in 2018 from the PAC of Murray Energy, a coal producer that stands to benefit from HB 6.

The Hardworking Americans also received $50,000 that year from Political Education Patterns, the PAC for the Cleveland-based International Union of Operating Engineers Local 18. IUOE Local 18 doled out $295,000 to Generation Now in 2018 and 2019, according to FEC data. Mark A. Totman, the union’s VP, serves as one of Governor Dewine’s appointees to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Nominating Council, where he represents organized labor.

Updated at 7:30 ET on Aug. 28, 2019 to include information about Ohioans for Energy Security’s use of stock footage in its ad.

Posted in: Coal, FirstEnergy, Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance Tagged in: carlo loparo, coal bailout, firstenergy solutions, generation now inc, hb 6, larry householder, loparo public relations, nuclear bailout, ohio clean energy jobs alliance, ohio secretary of state, ohioans for energy security, rex elsass

Posted by Dave Anderson

Dave Anderson is the policy and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute. Dave has been working at the nexus of clean energy and public policy since 2008. Prior to joining the Energy and Policy Institute, he was an outreach coordinator for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He is also an alumnus of the Sierra Club and the Alliance for Climate Protection (now the Climate Reality Project). Dave’s research has helped to spur public scrutiny of political attacks on clean energy and climate science by powerful special interests, such as ExxonMobil and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). His work has been cited by major media outlets, such as CBS News and the Wall Street Journal, and he has served as a speaker on panels at national solar industry conferences. Dave holds a MA in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire, where he also received a BA in Humanities.

===

A lobbying firm paid by FirstEnergy Solutions appears to have played a role in writing the testimony given this week by multiple supporters of a bill to bail out the bankrupt utility’s nuclear power plants that’s now before the Ohio House.

The bill in question, HB 6, would ultimately cost Ohioans $300 million annually, $180 million of which would go to FirstEnergy Solutions’ struggling nuclear power plants.

It would also effectively kill Ohio’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards, and could result in subsidies for coal and natural gas power plants, all under the auspices of a new Clean Air Program.

EPI downloaded digital copies of the written testimony by bill proponents that was posted on the Ohio House website after a committee hearing on Wednesday, and viewed the “Document Properties” for each of the PDF files. The name “Christopher Curry” – was found in the “Author” field of seven of the testimony files.

[pix/ doc]

Curry is a Washington, D.C.-based employee at the Dewey Square Group, a lobbying firm to which FirstEnergy Solutions disclosed making over $800,000 in payments in a bankruptcy case filing last month.

Carlo LoParo, a spokesperson for the Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance, provided the following statement to the Energy and Policy Institute (EPI) on Thursday, after the hearing on the bill:

As has been reported in the past, the Dewey Square Group works on behalf of FES and the Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance to advocate for keeping the state’s nuclear plants open. The Alliance played a key role in mobilizing strong support for House Bill 6 at yesterday’s hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, including providing a suggested framework and consolidating, converting to PDF’s, and submitting testimony to the committee.

The Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance that LoParo referenced is “powered by FirstEnergy Solutions,” according to the group’s website. Outside lobbying and public relations firms employed by FES helped to launch the Alliance last fall. The group has purchased over $220,000 in Facebook ads since its launch, all paid for by FirstEnergy Solutions.

Larry Householder, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House who is backing HB 6, denies that the bill is a bailout for FirstEnergy Solution. FirstEnergy’s Political Action Committee and employees contributed nearly $1.2 million during the 2018 election cycle in Ohio, with most of that campaign money going to Republicans, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Curry’s name appeared in the metadata of the written testimony by the following bill proponents who testified at Wednesday’s hearing:

Tom Brown, the administrator for Madison Township
Beth Hannan, executive director of the Sandusky Economic Development Corporation
Scott Miller, a Sandusky County commissioner
Andrew Ohrablo, an employee at the Perry nuclear power plant
Phil Rudolph, Jr., the vice president of the Rudolph Libbe Group, which has a $435,000+ claim in FirstEnergy Solutions’ bankruptcy case
Mark Rantala, the executive director of the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority
Bryan Tischer, an employee at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant

Curry also conferred with Sitrick & Company, a Los-Angeles based public relations firm representing FirstEnergy Solutions, about “FES messaging and talking points” in March, according to another bankruptcy case filing.

He worked on the launch of the Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance last fall, other documents filed in the FirstEnergy Solutions bankruptcy case reveal.

Curry previously worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. A petition supporting the inclusion of nuclear power in New York’s clean energy standards that summer lists Curry as the organizer.

Curry has also work with the Dewey Square Group as a lobbyist for Exelon in New York and Pennsylvania, according to FollowtheMoney.org.

Curry is not currently listed as a lobbyist in Ohio.

Posted in: FirstEnergy, Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance
Tagged in: coal bailout, dewey square group, Facebook political ads, firstenergy solutions, hb 6, Hillary Clinton, larry householder, loparo public relations, nuclear bailout, ohio clean energy jobs alliance, ohio house speaker, Rudolph Libbe Group

Posted by Dave Anderson

icn 719

Ohio Governor Signs a Coal and Nuclear Bailout at Expense of Renewable Energy

BY: DAN GEARINO

Ohio homeowners and businesses are now stuck paying more to keep old, uneconomical power plants running, and money-saving energy efficiency programs will likely disappear.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23072019/ohio-coal-nuclear-bailout-law-signed-cuts-renewable-energy-efficiency-programs-governor-dewine

Opponents fear the law will send the growing wind and solar industry to neighboring states while Ohio homeowners are stuck boosting old, uneconomical power plants.

Dan Gearino

:{BY :(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}:DAN GEARINO

JUL 26, 2019

Updated July 26 with FirstEnergy Solutions announcing that, with the state bailout for its nuclear plants, the utility will now have funding to keep an aging coal plant also running.

In a year when several states have taken big steps to embrace a future that runs on renewable energy, Ohio is taking a leap in the opposite direction.

The Ohio legislature passed a measure Tuesday that cuts renewable energy and energy efficiency programs while adding subsidies for nuclear and coal-fired power plants—a policy cocktail that opponents say is backward-looking and harmful to the economy, consumers and the environment.

Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed the bill into law within hours.

Opponents were unable to match the political power of FirstEnergy Solutions, the owner of the state's two nuclear plants, and its allies.

While much of the debate was about nuclear power, the law may end up functioning as more of a coal bailout.

On Friday, FirstEnergy Solutions said it had decided to cancel plans to close the W.H. Sammis coal-fired power plant, an eastern Ohio plant that has been described as a "super-polluter." The plant, previously scheduled to shut down in 2022, is not covered by the bailout law, but the windfall from the bailout money is improving the company's finances enough to make moves unrelated to the nuclear plants.

The new law is in line with Ohio's recent history of hostility to renewable energy, while also making the state an outlier as several other states have increased their support for renewable energy, including plans to move to 100 percent carbon-free or renewable electricity, most recently in Maine and New York.

"This is one of the worst pieces of energy related legislation we've seen," said Dan Sawmiller, Ohio energy policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

His group was one of many across the business and political spectrum that fought the bill, a rare moment in which environmental advocates such as the Sierra Club were on the same side as the American Petroleum Institute.

"We are bailing out a corporation, a failing corporation," while harming the growing wind and solar industries, said Rep. Casey Weinstein, a Democrat.

He said the legislation would steer solar and wind investment away from Ohio and toward neighboring states such as Michigan. Other states, including South Carolinaand Georgia, are being much more forward thinking about renewable energy, he said.

...

Ohio Weighs a Nuclear Bailout. Will It Boost Renewables, Too?

BY: DAN GEARINO

The powerful utility FirstEnergy has been pushing for federal and state nuclear subsidies for years. It spent big in the last Ohio election and won a power shift in the legislature.

A plan to have Ohio taxpayers bail out the state's two struggling nuclear power plants was a non-starter in the legislature just a few months ago. Now, it's a high priority.

What happened? New state lawmakers, many of whom owe their elections in large part to a powerful backer with a vested interest in fossil fuels and nuclear power.

FirstEnergy, the Akron-based utility that long owned the Ohio nuclear plants, spent heavily in Republican legislative primaries. The company and its allies backed the winners in enough races to get its preferred candidates into top positions.

FirstEnergy's aggressive strategy has broad implications for Ohio's energy future. It has been a leading adversary of policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency, while at the same time seeking state and federal bailouts for its older nuclear and coal plants. It was among those urging the Trump administration to use emergency powers to provide financial support to uncompetitive fossil fuels plants that otherwise might close.

The next few months may now show the extent to which the company's agenda has become the state of Ohio's agenda.

Legislative leaders are preparing to introduce a bill that would provide subsidies to companies that operate nuclear plants. A previous nuclear bill died in 2017 after it wasn't brought up for a committee vote in the Republican-controlled House. But the House leadership, while still Republican, has changed.

"Those with specific interests have figured out how to game the system and how to maximize their influence," said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a group that works for fair elections and government transparency.

This push for a nuclear bailout could also present an opportunity for renewable energy in Ohio, a state with a renewable energy manufacturing base but an on again, off again history of support for wind and solar.

On their own, nuclear subsidies are politically difficult to get approved. Three other states that passed similar measures—Illinois, New Jersey and New York—all did so as part of wide-ranging energy legislation that also increased support for renewable energy. Pennsylvania, where FirstEnergy is pushing another nuclear subsidy bill, is also considering including subsidies for renewable energy.

Can there be a grand bargain with environmental advocates in Ohio?

The new House speaker relied on Democrats for his rise to power. If the bill includes some Democratic energy priorities, it may pick up enough votes to pass this time, in spite of FirstEnergy's previous opposition to most of those priorities.

There is an economic case to support renewable energy and energy efficiency in Ohio. The state is a leader in clean energy jobs, thanks in part to its manufacturing roots, and advocates have long argued that this edge in manufacturing could be the foundation for a much larger clean energy economy.

But so far, Ohio lawmakers who support clean energy say they haven't been invited to the table.

A Bargain with Democrats to Win Power

A political earthquake hit on Jan. 7, when Ohio Rep. Larry Householderwas elected House speaker, narrowly defeating the incumbent, fellow Republican Ryan Smith.

His election was a surprise for many in the chamber, and the tension was palpable as members cast their votes.

He wooed Democrats with the promise that he would not support anti-union legislation, among other concessions, even though he campaigned as a champion for President Donald Trump's agenda and had a history of ethics concerns dating back to his prior time as speaker. More recently, he faced questions about having flown on a FirstEnergy corporate jet to attend Trump's inauguration.Householder is a political veteran who had been Ohio House speaker from 2001 to 2004. He left to focus on several business ventures, but won back his seat in 2016. As the votes appeared on the chamber's electronic board, it became clear that he had put together a narrow majority with a coalition of Republicans and Democrats.

At least nine pro-Householder Republicans were winners of contested primaries, and most of them defeated candidates loyal to Smith.

FirstEnergy's Campaign Spending

FirstEnergy and its allies spent heavily in Republican primary races, and their preferred candidates won most of them.

The candidates are easy to spot on campaign finance reports. About a dozen of them received identical $7,707.79 contributions last February from Householder's campaign committee, which is an unusually high dollar figure for a non-incumbent in an Ohio primary.

Seven of those candidates also got large payments from FirstEnergy's political action committee, ranging from from $5,000 to $13,700.

One example was the Republican primary for an open House seat in the district that includes the Perry Nuclear Power Plant, long owned by FirstEnergy. House Republican leaders supported John Plecnik, a law professor and city council member, who raised $166,444 for the campaign. Plecnik's opponent, lawyer and former House member Jamie Callender, raised $242,240, with big checks from Householder and his allies, including FirstEnergy and donors tied to the coal industry.

In mid-February, Householder named Callender chairman of the House Public Utilities Committee, the panel that will play a key role in legislation involving FirstEnergy."Obviously, I would have really appreciated their support, but I recognize they made a strategic decision," Plecnik said. "And they won. They got the speaker they wanted."

"I am humbled and honored that the Speaker has placed this responsibility on me and I will work hard to justify the faith he has placed in me," Callender said in a statement to his local newspaper. "This chairmanship will put me in the best position in order to try to protect the Perry Nuclear Power Plant which has been slated for closure."

FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young, responding to questions about campaign contributions, said the company donates to "candidates and officeholders whose interests align with those of our customers, employees and shareholders." She declined to get into specifics of individual donations. The company's donations lean Republican, but include some Democrats.

Why Is FirstEnergy Pushing a Nuclear Bailout?

FirstEnergy and its allies have been prolific donors across state government, but that wasn't enough to pass the nuclear bill over the last two years.

Asked about a potential nuclear bill this year, Householder responded through a spokeswoman:

"The Ohio House is interested in creating an environment for the future that encourages investment in lowering CO2 emissions in Ohio generation," he said, adding that "we want to ensure that Ohio continues its proud heritage of leading the Midwest in energy production." He did not answer questions about his campaign spending.

If a nuclear plan passes the House, it will still need to get through the Republican-controlled Senate and be signed by new Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Asked about the potential for nuclear plant subsidies, DeWine told reporters last month, "We're working on that" but gave no timetable.

"If we lose those two nuclear plants, they comprise the vast, vast majority of the clean energy that we have today in the state of Ohio," he said. DeWine, who has not laid out an agenda for renewable energy, has also received substantial support from FirstEnergy over his long political career.

[map]

It was in the process of spinning off a subsidiary that owns and operates most of the company's power plants. That subsidiary, FirstEnergy Solutions, then filed for bankruptcy, with assets that include the two nuclear plants. Nuclear plant subsidies would help FirstEnergy Solutions, though the company's plan to emerge from bankruptcy this fall does not assume aid from the state.FirstEnergy was in financial turmoil when it made its campaign contributions.

FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones sent a letter to Ohio lawmakers in February, saying that "sustaining Ohio's nuclear plants is vital to consumers, communities and the environment." He said his company, which has utilities serving 6 million customers in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, no longer has a financial interest in the nuclear plants but continues to support nuclear aid simply because it would be good for Ohio.

Clean energy advocates say this explanation is an oversimplification of complex financial issues, some of which are being hashed out in bankruptcy court and by federal regulators.

They also want to know if coal interests will get some kind of aid in the upcoming legislation, in addition to nuclear. Companies and people tied to the coal industry were a key part of Householder's donor base.

What Do Renewable Energy Supporters Want?

Nuclear power has a checkered history in Ohio, especially FirstEnergy Solutions' Davis-Besse plant, which has a history of safety issues, including the 2002 discovery of a football-size void in the reactor head casing caused by corrosion and a 2006 legal settlement after employees were caught filing false safety reports.

Some environmental advocates have begun to warm up to nuclear as a source of carbon-free power while the energy market moves away from fossil fuels, an argument the Union of Concerned Scientists set out in a November report. But the group also argued in a Decmeber blog post that the Ohio proposal should be rejected because of the safety issues and because the subsidies were not part of a larger clean-energy strategy.

Ohio renewable energy advocates have some significant items on their wish list for any compromise agreement.

At the top is a repeal of 2014 restrictions on wind farms. The law has the effect of limiting how many turbines can be placed in a project area, which has slowed development.

"We don't like bailing out nuclear plants, but we don't rule out supporting a package if the package on balance is a good one for consumers and the environment," said Rob Kelter, a senior attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

Rep. David Leland, a Columbus Democrat, says he and some of his fellow Democrats are open to discussing a larger energy bill that would include support for renewable energy, but that they would need much more than a token provision or two.

"It would take a massive shift in policy on clean energy in Ohio," he said. "It's not something you get on the cheap."

HQ Ohio

https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00140855&cycle=2018

steady increase since 1990

2018

Total Receipts	$2,257,968
Total Spent	$2,041,429
Begin Cash on Hand	$645,733
End Cash on Hand	$862,271
Debts	$0
Independent Expenditures	$0
Date of last report	November 26, 2018

2018 PAC Contribution Data

Contributions from this PAC to federal candidates (list recipients) (26% to Democrats, 74% to Republicans)	$397,800
Contributions to this PAC from individual donors of $200 or more ( list donors)	$1,838,615

Contributions from this PAC to federal candidates (list recipients)

(26% to Democrats, 74% to Republicans)

$397,800

Contributions to this PAC from individual donors of $200 or more ( list donors)

$1,838,615

Official PAC Name:

FIRSTENERGY CORP. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

Location: AKRON, OH 44308

Industry: Electric Utilities; Electric Power utilities

Treasurer: STAUB, STEVEN MR.

FEC Committee ID: C00140855

(Look up actual documents filed at the FEC)

1	Republican National Cmte	$100,000
2	Mike Turzai Leadership Fund	$50,000
2	Citizens for A Better Pennsylvania	$50,000
4	National Republican Senatorial Cmte	$45,000
5	Republican Party of Ohio	$42,500
6	Democratic Party of Ohio	$40,000
7	Ohio Republican Party-State Candidate Fund	$38,000
8	Build PA PAC	$35,500
9	Friends of Larry Householder	$25,416
9	Elect Devitis Cmte	Elect Devitis Cmte

Contributions from this PAC	Total
Republican National Cmte	$100,000
National Republican Congressional Cmte	$45,000
National Republican Senatorial Cmte	$30,000
Indiana/Missouri Victory Cmte	$25,000
Team Ryan	$12,000
Wild & Wonderful PAC	$10,000
McCarthy Victory Fund	$10,000
Common Values PAC	$10,000
Greg Pence Victory	$10,000
Miller Spano Webber Victory	$10,000
Edison Electric Institute	$10,000
Nuclear Energy Institute	$10,000
Country Roads PAC	$10,000
Milk River PAC	$7,500
Penguin PAC	$5,000
BRIDGE PAC	$5,000
DBM PAC	$5,000
Fund for a Conservative Future	$5,000
Stivers Victory Cmte	$5,000
Bill PAC (Shuster)	$3,700
Promise Pac	$2,500
Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte	$2,500
Keystone Victory Fund	$2,500
McConnell for Majority Leader Cmte	$2,500
New Pioneers PAC	$2,500
Unknown (Filer Error)	$-1,000

Contributors to this PAC	Total
Friends of Tiberi	$-5,000
RedwingMCPAC	RedwingMCPAC

random doc grab

76 South Main Street

2016 400K?$

House

Total to Democrats: $84,000

Total to Republicans: $320,200| Recipient | Total |

Barletta, Lou (R-PA)	$6,000
Beatty, Joyce (D-OH)	$10,000
Boehner, John (R-OH)	$5,000
Boyle, Brendan (D-PA)	$3,000
Chabot, Steve (R-OH)	$7,500
Clarke, Yvette D (D-NY)	$2,500
Clyburn, James E (D-SC)	$6,000
Coleman, Bonnie (D-NJ)	$2,000
Costello, Ryan (R-PA)	$7,500
Cramer, Kevin (R-ND)	$5,000
Delaney, John K (D-MD)	$1,000
Dent, Charlie (R-PA)	$7,000
Doyle, Mike (D-PA)	$10,000
Foxx, Virginia (R-NC)	$5,000
Frelinghuysen, Rodney (R-NJ)	$6,500
Fudge, Marcia L (D-OH)	$10,000
Garrett, Scott (R-NJ)	$3,000
Gibbs, Bob (R-OH)	$10,000
Goodlatte, Bob (R-VA)	$6,500
Gosar, Paul (R-AZ)	$1,000
Graves, Garret (R-LA)	$1,000
Green, Gene (D-TX)	$2,000
Griffith, Morgan (R-VA)	$10,000
Harris, Andy (R-MD)	$1,000
Jenkins, Evan (R-WV)	$10,000
Johnson, Bill (R-OH)	$10,000
Jordan, Jim (R-OH)	$8,000
Joyce, David P (R-OH)	$10,000
Kaptur, Marcy (D-OH)	$10,000
Kelly, Mike (R-PA)	$10,000
Lance, Leonard (R-NJ)	$10,000
Latta, Robert E (R-OH)	$10,000
LoBiondo, Frank (R-NJ)	$5,000
MacArthur, Thomas (R-NJ)	$6,000
Marino, Tom (R-PA)	$7,000
McKinley, David (R-WV)	$10,000
Meehan, Patrick (R-PA)	$4,500
Mooney, Alex (R-WV)	$10,000
Murphy, Tim (R-PA)	$10,000
Norcross, Don (D-NJ)	$4,500
Olson, Pete (R-TX)	$5,500
Pallone, Frank Jr (D-NJ)	$3,500
Payne, Donald M Jr (D-NJ)	$6,000
Perry, Scott (R-PA)	$7,000
Pitts, Joe (R-PA)	$1,000
Pompeo, Mike (R-KS)	$5,000
Renacci, Jim (R-OH)	$10,000
Richmond, Cedric (D-LA)	$2,500
Rothfus, Keith J (R-PA)	$10,000
Ryan, Tim (D-OH)	$6,000
Scalise, Steve (R-LA)	$1,000
Shimkus, John M (R-IL)	$10,000
Shuster, Bill (R-PA)	$10,000
Simpson, Mike (R-ID)	$4,200
Smith, Chris (R-NJ)	$4,500
Stivers, Steve (R-OH)	$10,000
Thompson, Bennie G (D-MS)	$5,000
Thompson, Glenn (R-PA)	$9,000
Tiberi, Pat (R-OH)	$10,000
Turner, Michael R (R-OH)	$3,500
Upton, Fred (R-MI)	$5,000
Wenstrup, Brad (R-OH)	$7,000
Whitfield, Ed (R-KY)	$5,000

Senate

Total to Democrats: $3,500

Total to Republicans: $18,800| Recipient | Total |

Barrasso, John A (R-WY)	$5,000
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH)	$0
Burr, Richard (R-NC)	$1,000
Campbell, Foster (D-LA)	$500
Casey, Bob (D-PA)	$3,000
Lee, Mike (R-UT)	$3,800
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)	$8,000
Vitter, David (R-LA)	$1,000

2018 lobbying

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientlbs.php?id=D000000531&year=2018

Lobbying Firm Hired	Amount	Subsidiary (Lobbied For)	Lobbyist
Akin, Gump et al	$550,000	FirstEnergy Solutions	D'Arcy, Sean G Olswanger, Sam Terhune, Henry A Tucker, James R Jr Verhoff, Geoff
FirstEnergy Corp	$1,680,000	FirstEnergy Corp	Alexander, Anthony Eckard, J Michael Mount, S Colin Wisham, Lorna
Holland & Knight	$90,000	FirstEnergy Corp	Viola, Beth A
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP	$150,000	FirstEnergy Corp	D'hemecourt, Julia Eames, Fred Hutchins, Eric
Miller Strategies	$330,000	FirstEnergy Corp	Miller, Jeff
National Environmental Strategies	$55,000	FirstEnergy Corp	Himmelstein, Marc Wilson, Richard
Van Scoyoc Assoc	$130,000	FirstEnergy Corp	Henken, Matt LaTourette, Jennifer

OMG

Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station is a nuclear power plant northeast of Oak Harbor in Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, approximately 25 miles east of the city of Toledo. It has a single pressurized water reactor. As of 2011, it is operated by the FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp.

On March 5, 2002, maintenance workers discovered that corrosion had eaten a football-sized hole into the reactor vessel head of the Davis–Besse plant. Although the corrosion did not lead to an accident, this was considered to be a serious nuclear safety incident.^[2][3] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission kept Davis–Besse shut down until March 2004, so that FirstEnergy was able to perform all the necessary maintenance for safe operations. The NRC imposed its largest fine ever—more than $5 million—against FirstEnergy for the actions that led to the corrosion. The company paid an additional $28 million in fines under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.^[2]

According to the NRC, Davis–Besse has been the source of two of the top five most dangerous nuclear incidents in the United States since 1979.^[4]

Davis–Besse is expected to close in 2020.^[5]

Location and history:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The power station is located on the southwest shore of Lake Erie about 10 miles (16 km) north of Oak Harbor, Ohio and is on the north side of Highway 2 just east of Highway 19 on a 954-acre (386 ha) site in the Carroll Township. The plant only utilizes 221 acres (89 ha), with 733 acres (297 ha) devoted to the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. The entrance to the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area^[6] is less than a mile east of the power station. The official name according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration is the Davis–Besse Nuclear Generating Station. It is the 57th commercial power reactor to commence building in the United States of America (construction began on September 1, 1970) and the 50th to come on-line July 31, 1978.^[7] The plant was originally jointly owned by Cleveland Electric Illuminating (CEI) and Toledo Edison (TE) and was named for former TE Chairman John K. Davis and former CEI Chairman Ralph M. Besse.

Unit One:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The reactor head under inspection

Unit One is an 879 MWe pressurized water reactor supplied by Babcock & Wilcox. The reactor was shut down from 2002 until early 2004 for safety repairs and upgrades. In 2012 the reactor supplied 7101.700 GWh of electricity^[8]

Units Two and Three:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 1973, two more reactors were also ordered from Babcock & Wilcox. However, construction on Units Two and Three never commenced, and these two units were officially canceled in 1981.^[9]

Incident history:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

1977 first stuck-open pilot-operated relief valve:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

On September 24, 1977, the relief valve for the reactor pressurizer failed to close when the reactor, running at only 9% power, shut down because of a disruption in the feedwater system.^[10]

1985 loss of feedwater event:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

On June 9, 1985, the main feedwater pumps, used to supply water to the reactor steam generators, shut down. A control room operator then attempted to start the auxiliary (emergency) feedwater pumps. These pumps both tripped on overspeed conditions because of operator error. This incident was originally classified an "NRC Unusual Event" (the lowest classification the NRC uses) but it was later determined that it should have been classified a "site area emergency".^[11]

1998 tornado:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

On June 24, 1998 the station was struck by an F2 tornado.^[12] The plant's switchyard was damaged and access to external power was disabled. The plant's reactor automatically shut down at 8:42 pm and an alert (the next to lowest of four levels of severity) was declared at 9:18 pm. The plant's emergency diesel generators powered critical facility safety systems until external power could be restored.^[13][14]

2002 reactor head hole:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Erosion of the 6-inch-thick (150 mm)carbon steel reactor head, caused by a persistent leak of borated water

In March 2002, plant staff discovered that the borated water that serves as the reactor coolant had leaked from cracked control rod drive mechanisms directly above the reactor and eaten through more than six inches^[15] (150 mm) of the carbon steel reactor pressure vessel head over an area roughly the size of a football (see photo). This significant reactor head wastage on the exterior of the reactor vessel head left only ³⁄₈ inch (9.5 mm) of stainless steel cladding holding back the high-pressure (₂₅₀₀ psi, 17 MPa) reactor coolant. A breach most likely would have resulted in a massive loss-of-coolant accident^[citation ^needed], in which reactor coolant would have jetted into the reactor's containment building and resulted in emergency safety procedures to protect from core damage or meltdown. Because of the location of the reactor head damage, such a jet of reactor coolant might have damaged adjacent control rod drive mechanisms, hampering or preventing reactor shut-down. As part of the system reviews following the accident, significant safety issues were identified with other critical plant components, including the following:

the containment sump that allows the reactor coolant to be reclaimed and reinjected into the reactor;
the high pressure injection pumps that would reinject such reclaimed reactor coolant;
the emergency diesel generator system;
the containment air coolers that would remove heat from the containment building;
reactor coolant isolation valves; and
the plant's electrical distribution system.^[16]

The resulting corrective operational and system reviews and engineering changes took two years. Repairs and upgrades cost $600 million, and the Davis–Besse reactor was restarted in March 2004.^[17]

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) investigated and penalized the owner of the plant over safety and reporting violations related to the incident. The company paid $28 million in fines under a settlement with the DoJ.^[2] The NRC determined that this incident was the fifth-most dangerous nuclear incident in the United States since 1979,^[4] and imposed its largest fine ever — more than $5 million — against FirstEnergy for the actions that led to the corrosion.^[2]

2003 slammer worm infection:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

In January 2003, the plant's private network became infected with the slammer worm, which resulted in a five-hour loss of safety monitoring at the plant ^[18][19]

2006 criminal prosecutions:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

On January 20, 2006, the owner of Davis–Besse, FirstEnergy Corporation of Akron, Ohio, acknowledged a series of safety violations by former workers, and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The deferred prosecution agreement relates to the March 2002 incident (see above). The deferment granted by the NRC were based on letters from Davis–Besse engineers stating that previous inspections were adequate. However, those inspections were not as thorough as the company suggested, as proved by the material deficiency discovered later. In any case, because FirstEnergy cooperated with investigators on the matter, they were able to avoid more serious penalties. Therefore, the company agreed to pay fines of $23.7 million, with an additional $4.3 million to be contributed to various groups, including the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Habitat for Humanity, and the University of Toledo as well as to pay some costs related to the federal investigation.^[20]

Two former employees and one former contractor were indicted for statements made in multiple documents and one videotape, over several years, for hiding evidence that the reactor pressure vessel was being corroded by boric acid. The maximum penalty for the three is 25 years in prison. The indictment mentions that other employees also provided false information to inspectors, but does not name them.^[20][21]

2008 discovery of tritium leak:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The NRC and Ohio EPA were notified of a tritium leak accidentally discovered during an unrelated fire inspection on October 22, 2008. Preliminary indications suggest radioactive water did not infiltrate groundwater outside plant boundaries.^[22]

2010 replacement reactor head problems:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

This article is about an event or subject that may not be current but does not specify the time period. Please help improve it to include this information. The talk page may contain suggestions. (July 2015)

After the 2002 incident, Davis–Besse purchased a used replacement head from a mothballed reactor in Midland, Michigan. Davis–Besse operators replaced the original corroded reactor head before restarting in 2004. On March 12, 2010, during a scheduled refueling outage, ultrasonic examinations performed on the control rod drive mechanism nozzles penetrating the reactor vessel closure head identified that two of the nozzles inspected did not meet acceptance criteria. FirstEnergy investigators subsequently found new cracks in 24 of 69 nozzles, including one serious enough to leak boric acid. Root cause analysis is currently^{[when?][timeframe?]}underway by the Department of Energy, First Energy, and the NRC to determine the cause of the premature failures.^[23][24] Crack indications required repair prior to returning the vessel head to service. Control rod drive nozzles were repaired using techniques proven at other nuclear facilities. The plant resumed operation in 2010. The existing reactor vessel head was scheduled for replacement in 2011.^[25]

2011 shield building cracks:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

An October 2011 shutdown of the plant for maintenance revealed a 30 foot long hairline crack in the concrete shield building around the containment vessel.^[26]

2012 reactor coolant pump seal pinhole leak:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

On June 6, 2012, an approximately 0.1 gpm pinhole spray leakage was identified from a weld in a seal of the reactor coolant pump during a routine reactor coolant system walkdown inspection. The plant entered limited operations, and root cause analysis was undertaken.^[27]

2015 steam leak shutdown:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

On May 9, 2015, a steam leak in the turbine building caused FirstEnergy operators to declare an 'Unusual Event' and shut the reactor down until repairs could be made.^[28] The plant was brought back online and synchronized with the local power grid at 11:11pm on Tuesday May 12 after repairs were completed.^[29]

Future:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The facility's original nuclear operating license was set to expire on April 22, 2017. On August 11, 2006 FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) submitted a letter of intent (Adams Accession No. ML062290261).^[30] The submission date for the application was August 10, 2010. On December 8, 2015, the NRC granted a 20-year license extension to expire on April 22, 2037.^[31]

Seismic risk:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Davis–Besse was 1 in 149,254, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[32][33]

Surrounding population:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.^[34]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Davis–Besse was 18,635, an increase of 14.2 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 1,791,856, an increase of 1.4 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles (80 km) include Sandusky, Ohio, 22 miles (35 km); Toledo, Ohio 26 miles (42 km); and Detroit, Michigan, 50 miles (80 km) (distance to the city centers).^[35] U.S. Census data for Canadian population within the area is not available, though Leamington, Ontario (population: 49,000) is 39 miles (63 km) away, and Windsor, Ontario (population: 230,000) is 49 miles (79 km) from Davis–Besse.

The cooling tower for Davis–Besse stands at 493 feet above the surrounding area, making it a major landmark around the western end of Lake Erie. The tower is visible from the Michigan shore and on clear days the condensing steam plume can be seen from Bowling Green, Ohio, over 40 miles away^[citation ^needed].

Surrounding population:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Beaver Valley was 114,514, a decrease of 6.6 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 3,140,766, a decrease of 3.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Pittsburgh (27 miles upwind of city center).^[4]

Seismic risk:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Beaver Valley was Reactor 1: 1 in 20,833; Reactor 2: 1 in 45,455, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[5][6]

Fessenheim:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Beaver Valley 1 was used as the reference design for the French nuclear plant at Fessenheim.^[7]

History

Perry was originally designed as a two-unit installation, but construction on Unit 2 was suspended in 1985 and formally cancelled in 1994. At the time of cancellation, all of the major buildings and structures for the second unit were completed, including the 500-foot-tall (150 m) cooling tower. It is possible that a second unit could be constructed on the site, but current economical and regulatory conditions are not conducive to doing so (in addition to back taxes that would be due to the "abandon in place" designations on many objects in Unit 2).

Eleven hundred acres at the Perry plant were designated in 1993 as an urban wildlife sanctuary by the National Institute for Urban Wildlife. The area has trees, shrubs, streams and ponds; and a habitat for heron, belted kingfisher, ducks and geese. The forested area is ideal for the crane-fly orchid, a rare species in Ohio. The site includes a wetland that contains spotted turtles, an endangered species in Ohio.^[5]

On March 28, 2010, there was a fire in a lubrication system for one of the water pumps that feeds water for generation of steam. Reactor power automatically lowered to 68% due to the reduction in feed water flow, and the fire was extinguished in less than three hours. Two plant fire brigade personnel were brought to a local hospital for "heat stress" following the fire. No customers lost power during this event.^[6] On February 9, 2016, the plant was unexpectedly shut down for maintenance to a recirculation pump. The reactor was brought back to full power by February 20, 2016.^[7]

In addition to Perry, FirstEnergy also owns and operates the Davis-Besse and Beaver Valley nuclear plants.^[8]

https://www.ecowatch.com/coal-nuclear-bailout-trump-2574242069.html

Trump Administration Plans Costly Taxpayer Bailout of Unprofitable Energy Industries

The Trump administration is planning to bail out unprofitable coal and nuclear plants by mandating grid operators buy electricity from them in the name of national security, Bloomberg reported late Thursday.

A draft Department of Energy memocirculated before a National Security Council meeting Friday proposes invoking rarely-used emergency authorities under the Defense Production Act and Federal Power Act to force grid operators to purchase power from struggling plants. Per the memo, the move is meant as a "stop-gap measure" while the administration conducts a two-year study on "grid security challenges" facing the country.

The proposal is the latest overture by the Trump administration as it struggles to make good on a campaign promise to help the coal and nuclear industry—as well as some of the president's biggest donors.

As reported by Bloomberg:

"While administration officials are still deciding on their final strategy—and may yet decide against aggressive action—the memo represents the Energy Department's latest, most fully developed plan to intervene on behalf of coal and nuclear power plants, pitched to the president's top security advisers.

...

Opponents of the new plan contend bailouts are a solution in search of a problem. They argue there are many ways to back up the grid that won't cost ratepayers billions of dollars. A coalition of natural gas and renewable power advocates told [Energy Secretary Rick] Perry that 'power plant retirements are a normal, healthy feature of electricity markets,' and therefore there is no emergency that would justify Energy Department action."

deeper dive:

Bloomberg

Echoes of Perry's Coal Bailout Plan

Perry has repeatedly expressed sympathy for the plight of companies with stranded coal and nuclear assets. A few months ago, he told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take steps to subsidize hard-pressed power plant operators. The commission turned his order aside, but it has opened an examination of how and whether to address the issue.

Environmentalists, including the Sierra Club, which leads a campaign to rid the U.S. grid of coal-burning power plants, a large source of greenhouse gas emissions, said they would fight any such bailout in court.

The American Petroleum Institute, a trade lobby whose members also produce natural gas, issued a sharp condemnation of the call for subsidies.

"FirstEnergy's latest attempt to spread a false narrative surrounding the reliability of the electric grid is nothing more than a ruse that will force Main Street consumers to pay higher prices," API Market Development Group Director Todd Snitchler said. "For FirstEnergy to cry wolf on the issue of grid reliability is irresponsible and is the company's latest attempt to force consumers to pay for a bailout. PJM is responsible for the reliability of the grid and if there is an emergency, PJM already has the tools to respond."

FirstEnergy's letter made the same argument for a bailout that Perry has offered.

It asked him to order PJM "to promptly compensate at-risk merchant nuclear and coal-fired power plants for the full benefits they provide to energy markets and the public at large, including fuel security and diversity."

"PJM has done little to prevent this emergency despite the numerous signs for many years that the emergency was coming," the company said. "PJM continues to claim that all is well with its system, but at the same time shows it does not have a clear view of what resilience is, how to measure it, or how to ensure it. PJM has demonstrated little urgency to remedy this problem any time soon—so immediate action by the Secretary is needed to alleviate the present emergency."

A 'Dizzying' Attack on PJM and Regulators

In a detailed thread on Twitter dissecting FirstEnergy's bid, Ari Peskoe, an energy analyst at Harvard University, said the company's argument was "dizzying" in its critique of FERC, which regulates the grid, and PJM, which operates it regionally.

The company called FERC's reliance on advice from the grid operators "misplaced" since between them they have allowed the markets to move in ways that put companies like FirstEnergy at a competitive disadvantage.

In threatening to close the nuclear plants, the company said only a policy intervention could save them.

"The market challenges facing these units are beyond their control," said Don Moul, chief nuclear officer for FirstEnergy and president of the generation subsidiaries. "We stand ready to roll up our sleeves and work with policy makers to find solutions that will make it feasible to continue to operate these plants in the future."

Coal and the Northeast's 'Bomb Cyclone'

In seeking an emergency intervention by Perry, FirstEnergy came loaded with an argument made just a few days ago in a report by analysts at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, an arm of the Energy Department.

They asserted that in the prolonged cold snap and brutal storm of late December and early January—an event that came to be called the "Bomb Cyclone"—coal fired plants had ramped up and saved the eastern grid, including PJM's territory and neighboring zones, from the risk of collapse.

The report warned darkly of an impending catastrophe if more coal plants shut down, as seems likely under current market trends.

PJM in February released its own report on the same period of cold weather. It said its systems were not stressed as badly as during the 2014 "polar vortex" period, and that its experience proved robustness, not frailty.

"Overall, the grid and the generation fleet performed well," PJM said. "Even during peak demand, PJM had excess reserves and capacity."

...

===

10 worst power plants

http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/worst-10-power-plants.png

luminant, duke, salt river, NRG 1stenergy

www.globalpossibilities.org/lets-fight-the-1-percent-of-power-plants/

**http://www.ecowatch.com/firstenergy-bailout-puco-2043994096.html**

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) approved a scheme Wednesday that will force FirstEnergy's customers to hand over approximately $200 million annually to the company and its shareholders for the next 3-5 years. Customers will receive virtually nothing in return for this massive subsidy, which could ultimately reach $1 billion.

Under Wednesday's order, FirstEnergy will begin to receive hundreds of millions of dollars, with effectively no strings attached. Although characterized as a "distribution modernization rider," nothing in the commission's order requires that these customer dollars be invested in modernizing Ohio's electrical grid or in any way be spent to benefit Ohio customers. Instead, the dollars can be siphoned off from FirstEnergy's Ohio utilities and used to bail FirstEnergy Corp. out of its poor coal investments while boosting the profits of corporate shareholders.

"Today's decision takes hundreds of millions of dollars out of customers' pockets in order to create a massive slush fund for FirstEnergy Corp. and its shareholders," said Shannon Fisk, attorney at the non-profit environmental law firm Earthjustice.

"And the fact that FirstEnergy asked for billions more does not make this decision any less unreasonable. Rather than forcing customers to prop up profits for a corporation that made a bad bet on aging coal plants, the commission should be looking after customers and ensuring investments in job-creating renewable energy, energy efficiency and smart grid initiatives."

Through Wednesday's decision, the commission has aided FirstEnergy's efforts to sidestep a recent order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that raised serious questions about FirstEnergy's previous bailout proposal. Under that proposal, customers would have directly assumed all of the financial risk of financially struggling coal and nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy Corp.'s unrelated competition generation business.

In late April, FERC ruled that FirstEnergy's previous bailout proposal—which PUCO had approved a month earlier—may violate federal safeguards concerning transactions between public utilities and their unregulated affiliates. FERC blocked FirstEnergy's bailout scheme pending a federal review. Rather than submit its proposal for FERC review, FirstEnergy concocted a new scheme intended to bypass the FERC order. Although the bailout ultimately approved by PUCO is structured a bit differently and Wednesday's order mentions grid modernization in passing, the fact remains that this bailout poses the same risk to customers that the FERC order sought to prevent.

"In this long-awaited and complicated decision, PUCO missed a critical opportunity to seriously focus FirstEnergy on the more diversified, cleaner energy future that tens of thousands of customers wrote the commission asking for," said Dan Sawmiller, senior representative for Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign in Ohio.

"A few months ago, FirstEnergy took an important step in moving beyond coal when it announced closure of four units at its Sammis coal plant. With PUCO's decision now issued, we hope to be able to work with FirstEnergy to accelerate its path beyond coal and nuclear and toward new investments in clean energy, energy efficiency and other modern grid initiatives like infrastructure for electric vehicles."

Wednesday's order marks the latest development in a more than two-year effort by FirstEnergy to obtain a customer-funded bailout. Throughout that time consumer groups, industrial customers, independent power producers and environmental non-profits have united in challenging FirstEnergy's efforts as contrary to law and bad for customers. Challenges before the Ohio Supreme Court and FERC to the commission's approval of the bailout are expected.

FirstEnergy Corp., based in Akron Ohio, spent $5.7 million lobbying, including $1.24 million in the first quarter of this year. Among its lobbyists are Martin Hall, former chief of staff for the Council on Environmental Quality and former staffer and deputy staff director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. FirstEnergy also has hired five other firms to help in its lobbying efforts and has a PAC that has distributed nearly $1.2 million this election cycle to a range of members, including House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio; Whitfield, who has been a vigorous defender of coal interests from his seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee; Democratic Reps. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania and Bob Latta of Ohio, also members of Energy and Commerce; Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, member of the Natural Resources Committee; and Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia, ranking Democrat on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Wisconsin AG Candidate Brad Schimel has said he wants to sue the EPA to stop new rules limiting coal fired emissions, citing "federal overreach."

Now those who want him to do that are pouring on cash. With polls showing Schimel and his challenger Susan Happ neck and neck, new ads have popped up in Wisconsin from a mystery group called the "Rule of Law Project".

The ads specifically laud Schimel for asserting that he would sue the EPA over the emissions standards.

The ad buy is likely to be large, $180,000 in Green Bay alone.

The ads credit an unknown group called "The Rule of Law Project." The gentleman listed on the ad buy as the group's treasurer is Adam J. White. Mr. White an attorney for the law firm of Boyden Gray and Associates, whose chief counsel is former White House counsel to George H.W. Bush and C. Boyden Gray. The address on the ad buy is the same address as Boyden Gray and Associates.

A key founder of the Federalist Society and a current board member, C. Boyden Gray is the chief architect of the 30 year attack on regulations protecting public health and the environment. As science shows increasingly alarming signs that catastrophic climate change is around the corner, Gray's firm represents clients likeFirst Energy Corp., one of America's top pollutersaccording to a UMass Amherst study.

As our Sourcewatch profile documents, Gray has long been tied to the Koch Brothers' anti-regulatory crusades going back decades to when Gray served as the Co-Chairman for Citizens for a Sound Economy which would later split to become Freedomworks and Americans for Prosperity. Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) was a powerful industry-funded think tank, promoting deregulation of all stripes

While on the board for Citizens for Sound Economy, Gray worked with Charles and David Koch. He continues to serve on the board of FreedomWorks and continues to represent the fossil fuel industry in cases against the EPA. Including a failed effort to represented several states challenging EPA's greenhouse gas permits in the Supreme Court.

ALEC Has Urged State AGs to Sue the EPA

And naturally ALEC has a role in all this too. Schimel is taking a leaf right out of the American Legislative Exchange Council playbook. As CMD research director Nick Surgey uncovered, ALEC -- bankrolled by big fossil fuel interests like Koch Industries and Peabody coal -- have been coordinating efforts to get state AGs to sue the federal government over the emissions standards.

"Alec has become quite well known and notorious for promoting model legislation. This is different," Surgey told the Guardian. "Alec is engaging much more broadly in the campaign against the EPA regulations, and they are doing so by asking their members to advocate for the coal industry with attorney generals. That is very unusual for them."

Unfortunately for Mr. Gray and the Kochs, limiting carbon pollution is actually quite popular with the American public. Two polls this year found that 70 percent of Americans approve of establishing carbon pollution limits.

- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/10/12649/dirty-energy-barons-go-bat-wi-ag-candidate-schimel#sthash.VJCt04O6.dpuf

===

FirstEnergy Corp. is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services. Its seven electric utility operating companies comprise the nation’s fifth largest investor-owned electric system, based on serving 4.5 million customers within a 36,100-square-mile area of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey; its generation subsidiaries control more than 14,000 megawatts of capacity. In 2007, FirstEnergy ranked 212 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest public corporations in America.

In February 2010, FirstEnergy announced plans to buy Pennsylvania's Allegheny Energy for $4.7 billion in stock to create one of the largest U.S. utilities. Together, the companies would include ten electric distribution utilities with six million customers and approximately 24,000 megawatts of generating capacity across seven states – Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. The company will have approximately $48 billion in assets and $16 billion in annual revenues.^[2] The merger was approved and closed on February 25, 2011.^[3]

Contents[hide]

Negative tax rate

A 2011 analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, "Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers: 2008-10" found dozens of companies, including fossil fuels, used tax breaks and various tax dodging methods to have a negative tax balance between 2008 and 2010, while making billions in profits. The study found 32 companies in the fossil-fuel industry -- such as Peabody Energy, ConEd, and PG&E -- transformed a tax responsibility of $17.3 billion on $49.4 billion in pretax profits into a tax benefit of $6.5 billion, for a net gain of $24 billion.

The companies that paid no tax for at least one year between 2008 and 2010 are the utilities Ameren, American Electric Power, CenterPoint Energy, CMS Energy, Consolidated Edison, DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Entergy, FirstEnergy, Integrys, NextEra Energy, NiSource, Pepco, PG&E, PPL, Progress Energy, Sempra Energy, Wisconsin Energy and Xcel Energy.^[4]

CEO compensation

In May 2007, Forbes listed Xcel CEO Anthony J. Alexander as receiving $8.5 million in total compensation for the latest fiscal year, with a four-year total compensation of $23.08 million. He ranked 16th on the list of CEOs in the Utilities industry, and 270th among all CEOs in the United States.^[5]

Power portfolio

Out of its total 14,819 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (1.39% of the U.S. total), FirstEnergy produces 54.0% from coal, 27.6% from nuclear, 8.6% from natural gas, 6.4% from hydroelectricity, and 3.4% from oil. FirstEnergy owns power plants in Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania; 65.9% of the company's generating capacity comes from Ohio.^[6]

Rates

FirstEnergy has come under fire for charging prohibitive rates in the Ohio area. In response, the Ohio Public Utility Commission has asked for bids from other energy companies. [1].

Coal Waste

EPA releases list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps

In response to demands from environmentalists as well as Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works, the EPA made public a list of 44 "high hazard potential" coal waste dumps. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not include an assessment of the likelihood of such an event. FirstEnergy owns one of the sites, which stores coal combustion waste for the Bruce Mansfield Power Station in Pennsylvania.^[7][8] To see the full list of sites, see Coal waste.

2010 study linking coal ash and groundwater contamination

Coal Ash: One Valley's Tale

In August 2010 a study released by the Environmental Integrity Project, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice reported that Pennsylvania, along with 34 states, had significant groundwater contamination from coal ash that is not currently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report noted that most states do not monitor drinking water contamination levels near waste disposal sites.^[9] The report mentioned FirstEnergy's Bruce Mansfield Power Station and Hatfield's Ferry Power Station as both having groundwater contamination due to coal ash waste.^[10]

Proposed expansion of Blue Run Waste Site

In Feb. 2011, FirstEnergy said it wants to expand the Bruce Mansfield Power Station Little Blue Run Dam coal ash site for the Bruce Mansfield Power Station, as the waste site is nearing capacity. The company wants to pay Greene Township, Beaver County, for the right to dump more coal waste on adjacent land it bought for $2.4 million in 2010.^[11] The surface impoundment is on the EPA's official June 2009 list of Coal Combustion Residue (CCR) Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not assess of the likelihood of such an event.^[12] The site has also been found to be contaminating groundwater.^[13]

FirstEnergy Corp. has offered Greene Township $15 million to embrace plans for the new 264-acre coal-ash disposal impoundment. Township Secretary Sandra J. Wright said the town will not consider the offer until the company submits information about the potential harms it may pose to the community: "The supervisors would have to change the zoning from agriculture to industrial, but the residents want to keep the rural character of the township." FirstEnergy has yet to submit plans for the coal ash disposal site to the township, which is along the West Virginia border in the southwestern portion of the county. "We're constantly getting people calling us to complain about odors and this and that" related to Little Blue, Ms. Wright said. FirstEnergy's 2,375-megawatt Bruce Mansfield Power Station in nearby Shippingport has dumped 100 million tons of fly ash at the site produced from coal burning and calcium sulfate collected by the plant's pollution control devices. Little Blue, once a cobalt-blue lake, is 400 feet deep and nearly filled to the top with waste from coal burning. The former owner of the power plant created the impoundment 35 years ago by building a 400-foot-high dam across Little Blue Run near its confluence with the Ohio River.^[14]

Concerned residents and the Environmental Integrity Project, a national environmental group, say the unlined waste site poses risks of heavy metal contamination of well water. Continuing debate over potential environmental and health risks from Little Blue was detailed in the Post-Gazette's "Mapping Mortality" series published in December. In that series, the Post-Gazette's ecological study of mortality rates for heart and respiratory disease and lung cancer revealed elevated rates for the combined area of Greene Township, Hookstown and Georgetown. Heart disease deaths there were 46 percent higher than the national rate. The total of 88 deaths from all three diseases also was 42 percent higher than the predicted number of 62 deaths, based on national rates from 2000 through 2008. A community survey showed overwhelming opposition to the waste expansion. The township will await submission of a final plan before making further comment.^[14]

Bay Shore Plant Contaminating Fish

In early June, 2010 Ohio environmental groups stated that the Bay Shore Plant along Maumee Bay is killing more fish than any other plant on the Great Lakes, costing Ohio $29.7 million annually. The Ohio Environmental Council, the Western Lake Erie Waterkeepers Association, Ohio Citizen Action and other groups are urging the Ohio EPA to make FirstEnergy, the owner of the plant, to install cooling towers at the plant -- which touches the Maumee River on one side and the Maumee Bay on the other -- in order to reduce the fish kills.^[15]

Campaign Contributions

FirstEnergy is one of the largest contributors to both Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress. These contributions total $387,550 to the 110th US Congress (as of the third quarter), the largest of which have been to John Boehner (R-OH)for $17,500. Rep. Boehner, for his part, has taken over $113,250 in total coal contributions and has consistently voted with the coal industry on energy bills. Running a close second is Rep. George Voinovich (R-OH), wih $17,200, who has also been consistent in his support for fossil fuels. [2]

Contributions like this from from fossil fuel companies to members of Congress are often seen as a political barrier to pursuing clean energy.

More information on coal industry contributions to Congress can be found at FollowtheCoalMoney.org, a project sponsored by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Oil Change International and Appalachian Voices.

Among the worst corporations

FirstEnergy was named one of "the 10 worst corporations of 2006" by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, in an article in the November / December 2006 issue of Multinational Monitor magazine. "In January 2006," the company "agreed to pay $28 million to settle criminal charges that it made false statements to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission," they wrote. "Under the agreement, the company admitted that the government was able to prove that its employees, acting on its behalf, knowingly made false representations to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the course of attempting to persuade the NRC that its Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station was safe to operate."

Mokhiber and Weissman also pointed to another incident: "In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection fined FirstEnergy Generation Corp. $25,000 for a 'stack rain out' that covered more than 300 Beaver County homes and properties in a black, sooty material July 22, 2006. The material came from the tall stack of the company's Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport Borough." The $25,000 fine was "the maximum penalty allowed by the state's Air Pollution Control Act."

Denying responsibility for Davis-Besse

In an "attempt to win a $200 million insurance dispute," FirstEnergy publicly reversed course on its responsibility for the near-catastrophe at the Davis-Besse nuclear plant near Toledo, Ohio. "FirstEnergy has abruptly shrugged off the blame it once accepted for repeatedly missing a football-size rust hole growing in the lid of the radioactive, high-pressure reactor," reported The Plain Dealer. "At the time, the utility paid $33.5 million in criminal and civil fines to acknowledge its culpability for failing to stop the corrosion and for misleading government regulators." [3]

FirstEnergy then claimed that "corrosion ate through the steel lid so quickly -- in four months, not the previously accepted four years -- that normal biennial inspections couldn't have caught it." The "new version of events" was put forward by Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, a consultant to FirstEnergy. But the consultant's report didn't explain "the rivers of rust that workers photographed on the reactor lid in 2000, 18 months before Exponent says major corrosion is supposed to have begun." [4]

On January 20, 2006, FirstEnergy acknowledged a cover-up of serious safety violations by former workers at Davis-Besse, and accepted a plea bargain with the U.S. Department of Justice in lieu of possible federal criminal prosecution. In the agreement, the company agreed to pay fines of $23 million, with an additional $5 million to be contributed toward research on alternative energy sources and to Habitat for Humanity as well as to pay for costs related to the federal investigation. In addition, two former employees and one former contractor were indicted for purposely deceiving Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspectors in multiple documents (including one videotape) over several years, hiding evidence that the reactor pressure vessel was being seriously corroded by boric acid. The maximum penalty for the three is 25 years in prison. The indictment also cites other employees as providing false information to inspectors, but does not name them.

In 2005, the NRC identified two earlier incidents at Davis-Besse as being among the top five events (excluding the actual disaster at Three Mile Island) most likely to have resulted in a nuclear disaster in the event of a subsequent failure. ^[16]

Signal Peak Mine Reopens

Formerly known as the Bull Mountain mine, the Signal Peak mine, operated by Signal Peak Energy, was reopened for operation in September of 2009. The mine has newly built access to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad that leads to the BNSF's main rail line in Broadview, Montana. The 35 mile line was built at a cost of $105 million.^[17]

"This is a mine that will add 25 percent to the over all coal mining that we do in Montana," stated Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer at the mine's reopening.

The Boich Group and FirstEnergy invested $400 million to reopen the mine, which will produce an estimated 12.5 million tons of annually by the end of 2010. On December 3, 2009 the companies announced that they planned to sell much of the coal to growing Asian markets.^[18]

November 2011: FirstEnergy sells stake in Montana coal mine to Gunvor Group unit

It was announced in October 2011 that FirstEnergy sold a portion of its stake in Montana's Signal Peak coal mine to a unit of worldwide independent commodity trader Gunvor Group for $260 million. The transaction allows FirstEnergy to retain one-third ownership in Signal Peak along with Boich Group, another Ohio company that bought the mine in a joint venture with FirstEnergy.^[19]

Coal lobbying

FirstEnergy is a member of the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA), an umbrella lobbying group for all coal ash interests that includes major coal burners Duke Energy, Southern Company and American Electric Power as well as dozens of other companies. The group argues that the so-called "beneficial-use industry" would be eliminated if a "hazardous" designation was given for coal ash waste.^[20]

ACAA set up a front group called Citizens for Recycling First, which argues that using toxic coal ash as fill in other products is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.^[20]

Other notable accidents and incidents

The 2003 North American blackout was caused by the failure of FirstEnergy to trim the trees around their high voltage lines in a certain sector of Ohio; heat and extreme power needs caused the lines to sag, coming into contact with the trees and causing power failure. See 2003 North American blackout for more details.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted on January 16, 2004, to investigate FirstEnergy subsidiaries Metropolitan Edison, Pennsylvania Electric and Pennsylvania Power, because their service reliability "may have fallen below established standards." A quarter century earlier, GPU's Three Mile Island was the scene of the worst civilian nuclear accident in U.S. history.

Existing coal-fired power plants

FirstEnergy owned 25 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 8,005 MW of capacity. Here is a list of FirstEnergy's coal power plants:^[6][21][22]

Plant Name	State	County	Year(s) Built	Capacity	2007 CO₂ Emissions	2006 SO₂ Emissions
Bruce Mansfield	PA	Beaver	1976, 1977, 1980	2741 MW	17,400,000 tons	24,882 tons
W.H. Sammis	OH	Jefferson	1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1971	2456 MW	13,800,000 tons	86,392 tons
Eastlake	OH	Lake	1953, 1954, 1956, 1972	1257 MW	6,355,000 tons	82,705 tons
R.E. Burger	OH	Belmont	1944, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1955	541 MW	1,635,000 tons	62,558 tons
Bay Shore	OH	Lucas	1959, 1963, 1968	499 MW	3,979,000 tons	15,207 tons
Ashtabula	OH	Ashtabula	1958	256 MW	1,132,000 tons	67,319 tons
Lake Shore	OH	Cuyahoga	1962	256 MW	895,000 tons	1,433 tons

In 2006, FirstEnergy's 7 coal-fired power plants emitted 45.2 million tons of CO₂ (0.75% of all U.S. CO₂ emissions) and 340,000 tons of SO₂ (2.27% of all U.S. SO₂ emissions).

In addition, FirstEnergy subsidiary Allegheny Energy owned 22 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 7,636 MW of capacity. Here is a list of Allegheny's coal power plants with capacity over 100 MW:^[6][23][24]

Plant Name	State	County	Year(s) Built	Capacity	2007 CO₂ Emissions	2006 SO₂ Emissions
Harrison	WV	Harrison	1972-74	2052 MW	14,200,000 tons	5,063 tons
Hatfields Ferry	PA	Greene	1969, 1970, 1971	1728 MW	8,959,000 tons	135,082 tons
Pleasants	WV	Pleasants	1979-80	1368 MW	6,722,000 tons	42,867 tons
Fort Martin	WV	Monongalia	1967-68	1152 MW	7,328,000 tons	87,565 tons
Armstrong	PA	Armstrong	1958, 1959	326 MW	2,099,000 tons	32,149 tons
Mitchell	PA	Washington	1963	299 MW	1,500,000 tons	742 tons
Albright	WV	Preston	1952, 1954	278 MW	1,200,000 tons	12,657 tons
Willow Island	WV	Pleasants	1949, 1960	213 MW	597,000 tons	8,611 tons
Rivesville	WV	Marion	1943, 1951	110 MW	230,000 tons	1,270 tons
R. Paul Smith	MD	Washington	1947, 1958	110 MW	401,000 tons	2,147 tons

In 2005, these coal-fired power plants emitted 43.2 million tons of CO₂ (0.7% of all U.S. CO₂ emissions) and 328,000 tons of SO₂ (2.2% of all U.S. SO₂ emissions).

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from First Energy coal plants

In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.^[25] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.^[26]

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from First Energy coal plants

Type of Impact	Annual Incidence	Valuation
Deaths	419	$3.06 billion
Heart attacks	686	$74.8 million
Asthma attacks	6425	$334.1 thousand
Chronic bronchitis	245	$108.8 million
Asthma ER visits	324	$119.4 thousand
Hospital admissions	315	$7.33 million

Source: "Health Impacts - annual - of Existing Plants," Clean Air Task Force Excel worksheet, available under "Data Annex" at "Death and Disease from Power Plants," Clean Air Task Force.

Note: This data includes the following plants owned by First Energy: Ashtabula, Eastlake, Bay Shore, Bruce Mansfield, W.H. Sammis, R.E. Burger, Lake Shore

Proposed coal unit closures

February 2012: FirstEnergy subsidiary to close three coal plants

On February 8, 2012, FirstEnergy announced that its Monongahela Power Company (Mon Power) subsidiary would be retiring three older coal-fired power plants located in West Virginia by September 1, 2012: Albright Power Station, Willow Island Power Station, and Rivesville Power Station. The total capacity of the regulated plants is 660 megawatts (MW), about 3 percent of FirstEnergy’s total regulated and competitive generation portfolio. Recently, the plants had served mostly as peaking facilities, generating around less than 1 percent of the electricity produced by FirstEnergy over the past three years. The company said the decision to close the plants was based on the EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) that were recently finalized, and other environmental regulations.^[27]

January 2012: FirstEnergy to close six plants by September

On January 26, 2012, FirstEnergy said it is permanently closing six of its coal plants by September 1, 2012: Bay Shore Plant, Units 2-4, in Oregon, Ohio; Eastlake Power Plant in Eastlake, Ohio; Ashtabula Plant in Ashtabula, Ohio; Lake Shore Plant in Cleveland, Ohio; Armstrong Power Station in Adrian, Pennsylvania; and the R. Paul Smith Power Station in Williamsport, Maryland.

The company said the decision to close the plants is based on the EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which were recently finalized, and other environmental regulations. The total capacity of the retired plants is 2,689 megawatts (MW). Recently, the plants served mostly as peaking or intermediate facilities, generating approximately 10 percent of the electricity produced by the company over the past three years.^[28]

September 2010: FirstEnergy to close four plants

On August 12, 2010, FirstEnergy announced it will throttle back power production at four of its smaller, coal-burning power plants, beginning in September and continuing for three-years. The company cited the lackluster economy, low demand for power, and pending federal rules tightening emission standards. The plants are the Lake Shore Plant in Cleveland, OH, all but the largest boiler at the Eastlake Power Plant in Lake County, OH, the Ashtabula Plant, and three of four boilers at the Bay Shore Plant near Toledo, OH. The largest Bay Shore unit, which burns petroleum coke from the nearby BP/Husky oil refinery, will continue operating.

The four power plants have not been running flat out for some time; instead, the company has kept them in reserve, ramping up production as needed. Altogether the power plants have a total generating capacity of 1,620 megawatts, they accounted for less than 7 percent of total production in 2009. One megawatt is 1 million watts and enough electricity to power about 800 homes. FirstEnergy said the slowdown will reduce operating costs but could force the company to write off $287 million in the value of its assets, reducing third quarter earnings by 59 cents per share.^[29]

Burger Plant

On April 1, 2009, FirstEnergy announced that it is retrofitting the R.E. Burger power plant in eastern Ohio to produce electricity from woody biomass instead of coal, which would make it one of the largest such facilities in the U.S. The conversion will cost about $200 million. FirstEnergy had faced an April 2 deadling to either close the plant, install $330 million in pollution controls, or convert to biomass.^[30]

In November 2010 decided not to pursue the biomass option. The company cited the reason as an economic one, stating it was too expensive to undertake.^[31]

According to a Nov. 17, 2010 report from Power-Gen Worldwide, FirstEnergy Corp. is planning to permanently shut down two coal-fired units, Units 4 and 5, at the Burger Plant by the end of 2010. The units were included in the 2005 Consent Decree settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and FirstEnergy had the option to re-power, install scrubbers, or shut down the units as part of an effort to reduce the company's sulfur dioxide emissions. Rather than refit the Burger plant units, First Energy will complete a $1.8 billion retrofit at its Sammis Plant in Stratton, Ohio, according to the report.^[32]

FirstEnergy's Lake Shore Plant and Environmental Justice

Resident Jocelyn Travis

FirstEnergy's Lake Shore Plant is in the Glenville community of Cleveland, Ohio, near Lake Erie and in close proximity to a large population of low income African Americans. Within a three mile radius of the plant, 85% of the 100,000 plus residents are African Americans with an average income of $10,000 per year, raising issues around environmental justice and coal. Lake Shore is among over 100 coal plants near residential areas.^[33]

Ohio Edison Company, W.H. Sammis Power Station, Clean Air Act Settlement

On August 12, 2009 Ohio Edision Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., agreed to a consent decree issues by the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. EPA to repower two of the R.E. Burger's coal-fired power plant units using primarily biomass fuels (trees, grasses, agricultural crops and wood products). The decree modifies a 2005 consent decree of a similar nature, requiring Ohio Edison to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from its coal-fired power plants. The EPA estimates that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the plant, along with SO2 and NOx will decrease by approximately 1.3 million tons per year.

FirstEnergy's, as part of a $1.5 billion project to reduce toxic air pollutants, will be installing a flue gas desulfurization devices (scrubbers) on all seven of company's coal-fired units in Ohio by 2011.^[34] The consent decree resolved a lawsuit filed in 1999 under the New Source Review provision of the Clean Air Act.^[35]

Personnel

In August 2008, Michael J. Dowling was promoted from vice president of governmental affairs (lobbying) to vice president of communications of FirstEnergy. Dowling's previous experience includes lobbying and PR positions at Ohio Edison, as well as "leadership positions with the Edison Electric Institute, the Nuclear Energy Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers." ^[36]

Contact information

FirstEnergy Corp.

76 South Main Street

Akron, Ohio 44308

Website:http://www.firstenergycorp.com

Articles and resources

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 FirstEnergy Corp., BusinessWeek Company Insight Center, accessed July 2008.
↑ "FirstEnergy to Buy Allegheny in $4.7 Billion Merger" NY Times, Feb. 11, 2010.
↑ FirstEnergy press release: "FirstEnergy-Allegheny Energy Merger Closes Effective Today", February 25, 2011.
↑ Robert S. McIntyre, Matthew Gardner, Rebecca J. Wilkins, Richard Phillips, "Corporate Taxpayers & Corporate Tax Dodgers: 2008-10" Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, November 2011 Report.
↑ CEO Compensation: #270 Anthony J Alexander, Forbes.com, May 3, 2007.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.
↑ Shaila Dewan, "E.P.A. Lists ‘High Hazard’ Coal Ash Dumps," New York Times, June 30, 2009.
↑ Fact Sheet: Coal Combustion Residues (CCR) - Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings, Environmental Protection Agency, June 2009.
↑ "Study of coal ash sites finds extensive water contamination" Renee Schoff, Miami Herald, August 26, 2010.
↑ "Enviro groups: ND, SD coal ash polluting water" Associated Press, August 24, 2010.
↑ "Utility wants to expand Beaver County coal ash dump" Post-Gazette, Feb. 7, 2011.
↑ Coal waste
↑ "Enviro groups: ND, SD coal ash polluting water" Associated Press, August 24, 2010.
↑ ^14.0 ^14.1 David Templeton and Don Hopey, "$15M offered to allow ash site" Post-Gazette, Feb. 8, 2011.
↑ " Kristina Smith Horn, Port Clinton News Herald, June 3, 2010.
↑ NRC Commission Document SECY-05-0192 Attachment 2, Nuclear Regulatory Commission website.
↑ Signal Peak Mine expected to boost MT coal production, Montana's News Station.com (CBS), accessed December, 4 2009.
↑ U.S miner seeks to boost Asian coal sales, Fitri Wulandari, Reuters, December, 3 2009.
↑ "FirstEnergy sells stake in Montana coal mine to Gunvor Group unit" Platts.com, October 18, 2011.
↑ ^20.0 ^20.1 *Coal-Fired Utilities to American Public: Kiss my Ash* DeSmogBlog.com & PolluterWatch, October 27, 2010.
↑ Environmental Integrity Project, Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants, July 2007.
↑ Dig Deeper, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.
↑ Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
↑ Dig Deeper, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.
↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
↑ "FirstEnergy, Citing Impact of Environmental Regulations, Will Retire Three Coal-Fired Power Plants in West Virginia" FirstEnergy, Feb. 8, 2012.
↑ "FirstEnergy, Citing Impact of Environmental Regulations, Will Retire Six Coal-Fired Power Plants" PR Newswire, Jan. 26, 2012.
↑ John Funk, "FirstEnergy Corp. to throttle back four smaller coal-fired power plants" Cleveland.com, August 12, 2010.
↑ Mark Niquette, "Coal plant to reinvent itself with cleaner fuel," Columbus Dispatch, April 2, 2009.
↑ "Ohio Utility Cancels Plans to Burn Wood at Plant" Associated Press, November 18, 2010.
↑ "FirstEnergy to Close Coal-Fired Units at Shadyside, Ohio, Plant" WVNS, Nov. 17, 2010.
↑ Jacqui Patterson, "Day II - Clearing the Air Road Tour — Cleveland, Ohio — Lakeshore Power Plant" NAACP Climate Justice Initiative, April 14, 2010.
↑ "Burger plant biomass retrofit proposal," Sierra Club, accessed November 5, 2009
↑ "W.H. Sammis Plant in Ohio Being Retro-Fitted to Scrub Air of Pollutants," Linda J. Hutchinson, ConstructionEquipmentGuide.com, accessed November 6, 2009
↑ Press release, "Michael J. Dowling Promoted to Vice President of Communications for FirstEnergy, Succeeding Ralph J. DiNicola, Who Will Retire After 30 Years," FirstEnergy via PR Newswire, August 27, 2008.

External resources

External articles

John Mangels and John Funk, "New Davis-Besse report making waves: Some raise questions as utility shifts stand on reactor lid rust hole," The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), May 13, 2007.

Wikipedia also has an article on FirstEnergy. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.

gang of 8

FirstEnergy

Prosecutors say Householder hatched bribery scheme at Washington steakhouse. He says he spent the weekend with family

Corporate dark money largess

Influence peddling

What’s happened since?

Citizens United

Restoring representation

“The largest bribery, money-laundering scheme ever perpetrated”

“Citizens must demand that politicians stop taking money” from FirstEnergy

The 2020 election is awash with FirstEnergy PAC money

Ohio’s entire congressional delegation

For Utilities, the Best of Both Worlds

Favors and Inducements

Threats and Payoffs

A Wake-Up Call?

For Utilities, the Best of Both Worlds

Favors and Inducements

Threats and Payoffs

A Wake-Up Call?

Posted by Dave Anderson

Opponents fear the law will send the growing wind and solar industry to neighboring states while Ohio homeowners are stuck boosting old, uneconomical power plants.

:{BY :(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}:DAN GEARINO

A Bargain with Democrats to Win Power

FirstEnergy's Campaign Spending

Why Is FirstEnergy Pushing a Nuclear Bailout?

What Do Renewable Energy Supporters Want?

2018 PAC Contribution Data

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Contents

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History

Echoes of Perry's Coal Bailout Plan

A 'Dizzying' Attack on PJM and Regulators

Coal and the Northeast's 'Bomb Cyclone'

ALEC Has Urged State AGs to Sue the EPA

Negative tax rate

CEO compensation

Power portfolio

Rates

Coal Waste

EPA releases list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps

2010 study linking coal ash and groundwater contamination

Proposed expansion of Blue Run Waste Site

Bay Shore Plant Contaminating Fish

Campaign Contributions

Among the worst corporations

Denying responsibility for Davis-Besse

Signal Peak Mine Reopens

November 2011: FirstEnergy sells stake in Montana coal mine to Gunvor Group unit

Coal lobbying

Other notable accidents and incidents

Existing coal-fired power plants

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from First Energy coal plants

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from First Energy coal plants

Proposed coal unit closures

February 2012: FirstEnergy subsidiary to close three coal plants

January 2012: FirstEnergy to close six plants by September

September 2010: FirstEnergy to close four plants

Burger Plant