Former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chair Sam Randazzo worked behind the scenes to hinder attempts to fully repeal House Bill 6 in the months before he resigned following an FBI raid of his home, newly released emails show.
Newly released emails show how Sam Randazzo, while chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, fought efforts to repeal the scandal-ridden House Bill 6 and was pushed by negative press into ordering FirstEnergy to investigate itself for potential misuse of customer funds. COLUMBUS, Ohio --
He also sought to influence the public and lawmakers’ opinions in favor of preserving HB6 even after August 2020 when federal prosecutors announced charges against ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others, accusing them of using $60 million in FirstEnergy bribe money to pass HB6. The law,, gave a $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout, among other things, to a then-subsidiary of FirstEnergy.
When Yost’s initially filed his lawsuit in September of 2020, Randazzo sent a news article about the suit to his wife, Carol Farmer, adding, “People are making this too hard.....”On July 29, 2020, RandazzoGov. Mike DeWine’s policy director, Anne Vogel, urging the governor and legislative leaders to suggest a “substantive fix” to “manage the political chaos and policy degradation” following Householder’s arrest eight days prior.
He added that the process should be “consistent” with the principles behind HB6, which included that the two nuclear plants receiving bailouts shouldn’t be closed and that HB6′s gutting of Ohio’s energy-efficiency and renewable-energy mandates for utilities should not be changed.