COLUMBUS, Ohio — A group of Ohioans is pushing the state to get rid of the Akron-based company that was at the center of the House Bill 6 scandal.
The FirstEnergy Accountability Coalition is asking Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to dissolve FirstEnergy, five years after House Bill 6 was signed into law.
While politicians, corporate leaders and other players who were involved in the scheme to pass the billion-dollar bailout for FirstEnergy’s nuclear plants are facing criminal charges or serving prison sentences, at a news conference at the Statehouse Wednesday, the group said the “corporate criminal” has yet to be held properly accountable.
“Simply paying a fine to the federal government is nowhere near the equivalency in magnitude to FirstEnergy Corporation’s admission of guilt in what is being called the largest bribery scheme in the 221-year history of the state of Ohio,” said Greg Coleridge, co-director of the national Move to Amend campaign.
The group of activists carried signs and marched from the Statehouse to the tower that houses Yost’s office, dropping off a letter for the attorney general.
Earlier, Yost’s office declined to meet with the activists in response to an emailed request, saying it was because FirstEnergy is the subject of ongoing litigation. The group was invited to email any information that might assist the attorney general’s office with the case.
In response to a request for comment, FirstEnergy provided Spectrum News this statement:
“Led by a reconstituted Board of Directors and new executive team, FirstEnergy has taken significant steps to move the company forward. We’ve made meaningful improvements to advance our culture of ethics, integrity and accountability, including creating a highly effective ethics and compliance program and making critical advancements to enhance policies, procedures and processes and provide transparent reporting to all of our stakeholders.
Our focus today is investing in our regulated electric companies to improve the customer experience and to meet their energy needs today and into the future. To do that most effectively, we have transitioned to a new business structure that aligns decision-making and accountability closer to our customers, regulated utility commissions and the employees doing the work. Our recently announced $26 billion five-year grid evolution program will help meet the evolving needs of customers through carefully planned projects that strengthen and modernize our electric grid, helping to reduce power outages, accommodate load growth and integrate clean energy sources.”