Noah Dormady News Today

FirstEnergy figured they could get their customers to subsidize their poorly performing nuclear power plants. To do so, they paid a $4 million bribe to Sam Randazzo just before Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed him as the chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Dark money for political campaigns helped make the Ohio nuclear bailout bribery scandal possible. But that $60 million FirstEnergy doled out to elect Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his allies, to pass HB 6 and stop it from being rolled back, wasn’t the only cash that traded hands.

A fight over expert testimony in the felony racketeering trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder offers a window into the ex-Republican legislative leader’s defense strategy over his alleged role in the First Energy bailout political bribery scandal.

Recent energy auctions show that the default rate will double next June, thanks to a system that makes Ohio fraught with risk for energy providers, while rates for everyone are expected to go up as well. Experts say to prepare now to avoid the worst of it.

Dynegy, a major bidder in Ohio's power auctions, wants the PUCO to deny NOPEC's request to migrate customers back to their utility's default rate — power that Dynegy would have to provide at a loss due to the nature of Ohio's electricity markets. Energy experts say the situation could further drive up rates in Ohio in an environment in which they are already on the rise.

Noah Dormady says rates are about to rise for customers of Columbus electricity aggregation plan, and the city should be transparent about it.

Ohio State professor, Noah Dormady, spoke with us about why these utility overcharges have continued and how we might stop them in the future.