The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that tax documents show that FirstEnergy was a major contributor to dark money groups supporting Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine during the battle to pass the controversial House Bill 6 to bailout nuclear and coal generating assets. From the Enquirer:
Money from Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. comprised more than one-third of all contributions to a dark money group supporting Gov. DeWine and likely all of the cash given to one backing his daughter's county prosecutor bid, newly revealed 2019 tax records show. The donations came the same year that Ohio's GOP-controlled Legislature passed House Bill 6, which included a $1 billion subsidy for two nuclear plants, then-owned by FirstEnergy Solutions. DeWine signed the bill within hours of it reaching his desk.
Federal investigators say former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others used nearly $61 million from energy companies, chiefly FirstEnergy, to fuel Householder's leadership fight, House Bill 6's passage and an extensive effort to block a ballot initiative to upend the bailout.
Here’s how the FirstEnergy money got to the pro-DeWine groups:
FirstEnergy Corp. donated $20 million to a dark money group, Partners for Progress Inc., in 2019, according to a federal affidavit.
Partners for Progress donated $300K in 2019 to Securing Ohio’s Future, a dark money nonprofit that backed DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted's 2018 gubernatorial bid.
Securing Ohio's Future gave $48,126 to Securing Ohio's Future Action Fund, a pro-DeWine super PAC, and paid $122,150 to Florida-based Republican firm Majority Strategies for "issue advocacy."
Securing Ohio’s Future donated $100,500 to Protecting Ohio Inc., a dark money nonprofit that backed Alice DeWine's unsuccessful prosecutor bid.
The pro-Alice DeWine Protecting Ohio Inc. was funded by two donations in 2019: $100,500 from Securing Ohio's Future and $75,000 from Partners for Progress.
The 2019 tax forms were obtained by the pro-renewable energy outfit Energy and Policy Institute and reviewed by the USA Today Network Ohio Bureau.
Read the full story at Cincinnati.com.