I highly recommend checking out this recent report from Clevland.com detailing the state of the case against Ohio utility regulator Sam Randazzo. Great, local investigative reporting. It’s great to see, and way too rare these days.
Basically, the case is a loose end of the big Ohio nuclear birbery scandal that shook the industry a few years ago. For anyone who doesn’t remember:
“The Ohio nuclear bribery scandal (2020) is a political scandal in Ohio involving allegations that electric utility company FirstEnergy paid roughly $60 million to Generation Now, a 501(c)(4) organization purportedly controlled by Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Larry Householder in exchange for passing a $1.3 billion bailout for the nuclear power operator.[1] It was described as "likely the largest bribery, money laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of the state of Ohio" by U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers, who charged Householder and four others with racketeering on July 21, 2020.[2]”
Randazzo, recently appointed chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, led an unanimous opinion to let FirstEnergy out of a big rate review scheduled for 2024. He also played a big role in defending the legislation mentioned in the above paragraph. The problem is that the FBI uncovered evidence that FirstEnergy had paid Randazzo $4.3 million. Randazzo’s attorney claims the money was a termination fee for consulting services provided before he became chairman. The FBI has a 5-year-limit to charge Randazzo with racketeering, meaning the deadline is sometime this coming summer or fall.