A federal grand jury on Monday indicted the former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on 11 counts related to bribery and embezzlement.
The indictment claims Sam Randazzo accepted a $4.3 million bribe in exchange for helping FirstEnergy pass House Bill 6, the 2019 energy law at the center of a wide-ranging federal bribery probe that has already resulted in former speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder serving a 20-year prison sentence. Householder was convicted in March 2023 by a federal jury of racketeering conspiracy.
House Bill 6 charged Ohio electricity customers a fee to bail out two nuclear plants owned by the FirstEnergy and slashed incentives for renewables and energy efficiency. Ratepayers continue to subsidize a pair of coal plants owned by FirstEnergy and several other utilities because of House Bill 6, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The public watchdog group Ohio Citizen Action called House Bill 6 the “worst energy bill of the 21st century.” Ohio Citizen Action leaders released a statement Monday saying that they “opposed the appointment of Randazzo from the beginning of the nomination process. His decades-long career as an anti-clean energy lobbyist and lawyer made him the wrong choice to oversee regulation of Ohio’s utilities and protect Ohio consumers. His self-serving, potentially criminal activity did a great disservice to our state and our energy customers.”
Randazzo is charged with one count of conspiring to commit travel act bribery and honest services wire fraud, two counts of travel act bribery, two counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of wire fraud and five counts of making illegal monetary transactions during his time as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and to when he represented the Industrial Energy Users of Ohio. Randazzo pleaded not guilty.
In a 2021 plea deal with federal prosecutors, Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. admitted that it bribed Randazzo. The company paid Randazzo $4.3 million shortly before Gov. Mike DeWine picked him as PUCO chairman in 2019.
In exchange for the $4.3 million, Randazzo gave the energy company favorable treatment at the PUCO. For example, in November 2019, Randazzo included language in a PUCO order that would help FirstEnergy address an issue looming in 2024.
In addition to the allegations about Randazzo's conduct with FirstEnergy and the PUCO, the indictment accuses him of embezzling $1.1 million from the Industrial Energy Users – Ohio, a group he represented on utility matters.
Randazzo began his career as a staff attorney at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and later as an assistant attorney general before entering private practice. Gov. Mike DeWine appointed him to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in early 2019.
Randazzo went on to advocate for House Bill 6, which would've provided a $1.3 billion bailout to help FirstEnergy and other utilities. DeWine signed it into law in July 2019.
Randazzo also played a role in getting lawmakers to include language in the 2019 state budget that loosened state limits on FirstEnergy and other utilities’ ability to make “significantly excessive” profits, according to the federal indictment.
Within a year, federal prosecutors accused FirstEnergy of funneling $61 million in bribes through political dark money groups. The money helped position Householder as Ohio House speaker, push through House Bill 6, and fund a counter-campaign against a public referendum attempt to repeal the controversial law.
FirstEnergy later admitted it paid Randazzo and his companies $22 million over 10 years, including $4.3 million paid out just weeks before he went to lead the PUCO. Randazzo resigned from the PUCO in November 2020.
Others charged in the scandal include Matt Borges, the former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party and former lobbyist, who is serving five years in federal prison for racketeering and conspiracy. Two others, Householder’s political consultant Jeff Longstreth and former FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Juan Cespedes are still awaiting sentencing. Former lobbyist Neil Clark, the fifth man charged in the initial indictment, died by suicide in March 2021 before trial.
Read more on the latest indictments in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and for a deep dive into House Bill 6, check out Cincinnati.com.