AKRON, Ohio – A criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday that accuses FirstEnergy Corp. of bribing Ohio Rep. Larry Householder, speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, and four others to secure a bailout of the utility’s nuclear plants, refers to high level company employees – but not by name.
Even FirstEnergy is referred to discreetly as “Company A,” although it’s clear that the complaint is referencing the Akron-based utility.
The company has acknowledged receiving subpoenas related to the investigation into House Bill 6, the nuclear bailout bill that Householder helped shepherd through the legislature in 2019.
Details in the criminal complaint also clearly point to the identity of two company officials that are mentioned.
The complaint states that from February 2017 to July 2019, Householder had 84 phone contacts with FirstEnergy’s CEO, 14 phone contacts with FirstEnergy Service Co.‘s Vice President of External Affairs, and 188 contacts with FirstEnergy’s Ohio Director of State Affairs.
The CEO is clearly Chuck Jones, who has been with FirstEnergy and subsidiary companies since 1978, according to FirstEnergy’s website. He was promoted to president and CEO in 2015.
In a teleconference on Friday to update investors on company earnings and the investigation into Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, Jones said, “I think that the CEO referenced in some of the affidavit wasn’t me. I don’t know who it was, but it was not me, and I’ve never made a payment directly to a lobbyist in my life, nor asked any lobbyist to make a payment on behalf of our company in my life.”
FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones commented publicly for the first time Thursday about the federal case that connects the company to a $60 million bribery conspiracy to secure a $1.3 billion bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants.
The complaint also says Company A actively sought a “legislative solution” for its two nuclear power plants in Ohio, as evidenced by a quote from “Company A Corp. President and CEO” from a fourth-quarter 2016 earnings call. That quote can be attributed to FirstEnergy President and CEO Charles Jones, according to a report at the time by POWER Magazine.
Information contained in the complaint also points to one of the other company officials as Michael Dowling, senior vice president of external affairs.
The complaint makes several references to Householder having calls with the “Sr. VP of External Affairs for Company A Service Co.” FirstEnergy’s website lists Michael J. Dowling as the “Senior Vice President, External Affairs, FirstEnergy Service Company.”
Michael J. Dowling, senior vice president of external affairs at FirstEnergy.
Dowling became the senior vice president of external affairs in 2011 after being promoted multiple times in roles that oversaw FirstEnergy’s governmental involvement on federal, state and local levels.
As for the reference to FirstEnergy’s Ohio director of state affairs, the connection is not as clear.
The job title does not appear to exactly match any searches for FirstEnergy employees. A LinkedIn profile shows a FirstEnergy employee’s job title in 2018, at the time of the Householder phone calls, as “Director, State Regulatory Affairs – Ohio.”
This employee’s name is also registered with the State of Ohio as a lobbyist for FirstEnergy. When asked whether this person held this job in 2018, a FirstEnergy spokeswoman said she could not disclose information about employees.