Ohio’s attorney general sued FirstEnergy and its affiliates this week, opening yet another probe of the company’s alleged connections with state Rep. Larry Householder (R), the former Ohio House Speaker facing federal racketeering charges related to a 2019 nuclear-power bailout.
The state suit seeks to block Energy Harbor, a former FirstEnergy subsidiary once called FirstEnergy Solutions, from receiving any money from House Bill 6: legislation backed by Householder that, according to David Yost, the Ohio attorney general, grants the struggling Perry Nuclear Power Plant and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Ohio a billion-dollar bailout. Yost filed his complaint Wednesday in the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County, Ohio.
Echoing allegations in the federal case against Householder, Wednesday’s complaint in the Ohio court alleges that FirstEnergy and its affiliates helped prop up the campaigns of 20 candidates up for election in 2018, who in turn supported Householder’s bid for house speaker. Householder then helped jam H.B. 6 through the legislature.
It was a perfect union, Yost alleged this week: Householder needed money to ramp up support for his campaign, and the two nuclear plants needed a lifeline to survive competition from cheap natural gas. Together, the parties formed what Yost referred to in the lawsuit as the “Unholy Alliance.”
FirstEnergy called that a mischaracterization.
“The lawsuit unjustly targets the company for lawfully participating in the political process and advocating for policy that is consistent with our interests,” FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing Friday morning in an e-mail. “Like most public companies, we support policy initiatives that matter to our customers, employees, communities and shareholders. The Attorney General’s complaint is without legal merit, and the company intends to vigorously defend itself.”
EnergyHarbor wasn’t indicted in July with Householder, but that federal case — in the Southern District of Ohio federal court — alleges the company was directly involved with his alleged crimes. Yost also seeks to block EnergyHarbor and FirstEnergy from contributing to political campaigns in Ohio for the rest of the year.
Yost singles out 19 Ohio house districts that received funding from one of Householder’s alleged political action committees in the 2018 race. “Team Householder” candidates were seeking the Republican nomination in 16 of the districts. Of those candidates, 11 were elected, and 10 voted to pass H.B. 6.
But not all Republican candidates were bankrolled by Householder’s dark money groups in the 2018 election. One candidate notably missing from the list is Michael Pircio, who lost the race in the 99th district to Democratic incumbent state Rep. John Patterson.
Pircio, a consultant at the company Clearsulting, was later hired by FirstEnergy in March to help the company come into compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires corporations to follow certain guidelines to protect shareholders from fraud. He was fired the same day Householder was indicted and allegedly downloaded nearly 60 files from the company’s computers the day after, according to a lawsuit filed Sept. 1 by FirstEnergy and Clearsulting.
Filings in the suit against Pircio say he disclosed company documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and his lawyer, a whistleblower attorney based in Washington. A judge ruled Pircio can’t do anything else with the documents but can continue to cooperate with the SEC, which is investigating FirstEnergy.
Yost’s lawsuit is only the latest in a string of probes opened after Householder’s indictment, which has been characterized as one of the largest public corruption scandals in state history.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio launched an investigation into the company last week, and Ohio’s Secretary of State filed a complaint with the Ohio Elections Commission in late August alleging more than 150 election law violations against Householder and others purportedly involved in the scheme.
In late August, Robert Cupp, Ohio’s new house speaker, created an oversight committee aimed at repealing H.B. 6, while other representatives have submitted at least two bills to do the same thing.
If the subsidies aren’t repealed by Oct. 1, Ohio ratepayers will be required to pay the fee proposed in H.B. 6 starting Jan. 1 — around $0.85 per residential customer.
EnergyHarbor did not respond to requests for comment.
