Texts detail how Ohio regulator gave FirstEnergy inside help

Published October 21, 2021 12:07 PM

By MARK GILLISPIE and JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A newly surfaced text exchange between then-FirstEnergy Corp. executives give a new peek into the favors the company got from Ohio’s top utility regulator. The person referenced in the texts, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo, has since resigned. He remains under scrutiny in a $60 million federal bribery probe. FirstEnergy has acknowledged the since-fired executives paid Randazzo $4.3 million just before he was appointed commission chair in 2019. The March 2020 texts between then-CEO Chuck Jones and a senior vice president said Randazzo overruled commission members and staff and suppressed release of a potentially unfavorable audit report.

Article Topic Follows: AP National Business

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