COLUMBUS, Ohio — Attorney General Dave Yost has filed another lawsuit seeking to block payment of a scandal-ridden $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout to the owner of two northern Ohio nuclear plants.
The lawsuit asks a Franklin County Common Pleas Court judge to issue an injunction to stop both the collection and payment of the bailout money to the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants, owned by Energy Harbor (a former FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary).
The bailout payments, which are scheduled to start in January, is funded by new monthly surcharges ranging from 85 cents for residential customers to as much as $2,400 for large industrial plants.
The lawsuit notes that Ohio law doesn’t allow refunds for utility fees – even illegal ones – unless a refund mechanism is set up as part of the fee. HB6 doesn’t include any refund provision except for any "excess funds left over once the bailout ends in 2027.
“The people of Ohio are about to be shaken down for money they should not pay and will never be able to get back,” Yost’s lawsuit states, adding later: “Injunctive relief is necessary to stop at least the distribution, and ideally the collection, of the corruptly enacted rate tariff.”
Yost’s latest lawsuit states it’s an “ancillary action” to his office’s initial lawsuit, filed in September, to stop the payment of HB6 bailout money collected. The new suit lists the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority and Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague as defendants – not because they are accused of any wrongdoing, but because they are in charge of handling the collection and payment of the bailout funds.
Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his allies were arrested in July and charged with using $60 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy to secure passage of House Bill 6. So far, two of those associates have pleaded guilty – ex-FirstEnergy lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Householder political aide Jeff Longstreth – though Householder has maintained his innocence.
No FirstEnergy or Energy Harbor officials have been charged with any wrongdoing so far, though FirstEnergy recently fired its CEO and other top executives.
An Energy Harbor spokesman didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment. Energy Harbor stock, which is privately traded, fell by more than 26% on Friday morning, to $21 per share.
Read the full lawsuit from Yost’s office:
Read more Ohio politics and government stories:
Why Rep. Marcia Fudge wants to be Joe Biden’s Agriculture Secretary
As Ohio nursing home coronavirus cases spike, their share for total deaths statewide shrinks
Ohio Department of Health offers new online features to track coronavirus, flu cases