Ohio nuclear bribery scandal


The Ohio nuclear bribery scandal was a 2020 political scandal in Ohio involving allegations that FirstEnergy paid roughly $60 million to Generation Now, a 501 organization purportedly controlled by Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Larry Householder, in exchange for passing a $1.3 billion bailout for the struggling nuclear power operator. It was described as "likely the largest bribery, money laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of the state of Ohio" by U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers, who charged Householder and four others with racketeering on July 21.
According to prosecutors, FirstEnergy poured millions into the campaigns of 21 candidates during the 2018 Ohio House of Representatives election, which ultimately helped Householder replace Ryan Smith as Republican House speaker. In July 2019, the House passed House Bill 6, which increased electricity rates and provided that money as a $150 million per year subsidy for the Perry and Davis–Besse nuclear plants and cut subsidies for renewable energy. Consumer advocates and the natural gas industry tried to place a ballot initiative on the 2020 ballot to overturn the law, but were unsuccessful due to negative campaigning by Generation Now.

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Governor Mike DeWine has asked Householder to resign, as has former Governor John Kasich who previously opposed H.B. 6, but Householder refused. Republican legislator Jamie Callender, who sponsored the bill, claimed no knowledge of the scheme and said that he felt "betrayed". Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown also joined the prominent voices calling for Householder's resignation, and additionally blamed the scandal on Republican one-party rule in Ohio state politics.
DeWine had earlier resisted calls to repeal H.B. 6, but changed his mind on July 23, stating: "No matter how good this policy is, the process by which this bill was passed is simply not acceptable. That process, I believe, has forever tainted the bill and now the law itself." DeWine urged the House to quickly select a new speaker in order to pass a replacement bill.