Sam Randazzo, an Ohio energy regulatory chief who took his own life in 2024 after being indicted in a FirstEnergy bribery scandal, previously worked for FirstEnergy and a coalition of businesses at the same time when they were negotiating with each other, according to recent court testimony.
This came during February testimony from former FirstEnergy attorney Mark Hayden as he testified this month in the trial of former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and former FirstEnergy lobbyist Michael Dowling. The pair allegedly bribed Randazzo with $4.3 million just prior to him taking over as leader of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, according to Ohio newspaper reports.
Hayden testified that FirstEnergy terminated him after he complained about improper payments being made by the company.
Randazzo , 74, hanged himself in Columbus in 2024. He faced charges along with Jones and Dowling pertaining to an alleged bribery scheme. Jones and Dowling are currently being tried on this matter in Summit County Common Pleas Court in Akron, Ohio, which is where FirstEnergy is headquartered.
Hayden testified that in 2013, Randazzo was a hired consultant for FirstEnergy while also helping IEU-Ohio, a group of commercial and industrial businesses, during their negotiations on energy prices with FirstEnergy, cleveland.com reported.
A subsidiary of FirstEnergy — FirstEnergy Nuclear — owned and operated the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station and Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Ohio. FirstEnergy sold those two reactors to Vistra Corp. of Irving, Texas in 2024.
Randazzo resigned from the Regulatory Commission under pressure in 2020 and was later indicted on charges that could have led to 20 years in prison.