"Regulators just fined FirstEnergy $250M over its bribery scheme. While historically high, the amount falls short of what consumer advocates had pushed for."
"In landmark rulings last month, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ordered FirstEnergy’s three regulated companies to pay roughly $250 million for violations linked to the state’s largest-ever utility corruption scandal. More than $186 million of that will be refunded or credited to consumers.
It’s one of the biggest such penalties in U.S. history. The rulings in three cases represent “an important milestone in fixing the harms FirstEnergy caused,” said Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Maureen Willis — even though the relief comes more than five years after her office first asked regulators for accountability and falls well short of what she and others pushed for.
The utility corruption scandal surrounding FirstEnergy and House Bill 6 isn’t just the largest in Ohio history — it also ranks up there nationwide, where such occurrences have happened more often than regulators or consumers would want.
As part of the scheme, FirstEnergy paid roughly $60 million in bribes to pass the law bailing out unprofitable nuclear and coal plants, and then to thwart Ohioans’ constitutional right to a referendum on it. FirstEnergy also admitted that it paid $4.3 million to Sam Randazzo shortly before he became chair of Ohio’s utilities commission in 2019, with the understanding that he would provide favorable treatment for the company."
Kathiann M. Kowalski reports for Canary Media December 3, 2025.
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