The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Nominating Council is seeking a new commissioner after its former leader resigned two weeks ago, when his home was raided by the FBI, according to a press release this week.
The raid happened just days after FirstEnergy Corp., the energy utility at the center of one of the largest public corruption scandals in Ohio history, filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission expressing concern over a $4 million payment made in 2019 to an “individual who subsequently was appointed to a full-time role as an Ohio government official directly involved in regulating the Ohio companies.”
Vice Chair Beth Trombold has been appointed the acting chair by Gov. Mike DeWine until a replacement is chosen, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) spokesman Matt Schilling told RadWaste Monitor in an email Friday. He said the commission is restricting its search to Ohio candidates only, because under state law, a PUCO commissioner must be a full time resident of Ohio.
Former PUCO head Sam Randazzo said in his resignation letter to DeWine that the impression left by the filing and subsequent FBI raid “will, right or wrong, fuel suspicions about and controversy over decisions I may render in my current capacity.”
Randazzo’s replacement would serve the remainder of a term ending on April 10, 2024, PUCO said. The nominating council will meet later this month, on Dec. 21, to interview selected applicants and recommend finalists to Gov. Mike DeWine, who will have 30 days to choose a new commissioner or ask for a new list of candidates.
PUCO is responsible for regulating Ohio’s public utilities, including First Energy. Critics said the commission has gone too easy on the utility, which faces a number of federal investigations for its alleged involvement with former House Speaker Larry Householder’s scheme to pass House Bill 6 in the state legislature. The bill provided a bailout for financially nuclear power plants owned by a former First Energy subsidiary
