PUCO decision shows how its staff and utilities march in lockstep
2024-10-11
The Aug. 21 Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ruling in favor of the subsidies to utilities authorized by the state’s HB 6 law showed just how closely the commission’s staff and the companies work together. In five separate parts of the ruling, the commission cites how “staff and the companies” agreed to either strike testimony… Read more »
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Nonprofit’s missing paper trail for grant request
2024-09-27
Not long after receiving its tax-exempt nonprofit status two years ago, the Indian Lake Advocacy Group hired one of Columbus’ most prominent lobbying firms. Since then, ILAG has reported lobbying for only one item, a 2022 bill that called for a tax amnesty program. That’s despite ILAG’s open solicitation of a $5 million grant in… Read more »
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Stonewalling public disclosure, a PUCO tradition, continues
2024-06-5
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio continues to stonewall requests for the names of staff members who recommended a protective order that hid key details of its audit into the state’s corrupt HB 6 law. PUCO lawyers continue to claim they have no records about the staff’s recommendation to grant the order issued last July…. Read more »
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Unlike Ohio’s PUCO, Michigan PSC no pushover on protective orders
2024-05-12
Not only did the Michigan regulators go beyond the timid Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in pulling back higher electricity prices charged by the Ohio Valley Electric Corp., they limited the amount of information covered by protective orders. Checks & Balances Project has revealed how PUCO staffers gave the utilities that share ownership of OVEC… Read more »
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Michigan rejects OVEC costs while Ohio remains inactive
2024-04-15
Michigan regulators have disallowed $1,025,628 in excess charges for electricity from the coal-fired power plants owned by the Ohio Valley Electric Corp., a dramatic contrast with Ohio regulators paralyzed by the corrupt HB 6 law. On April 11, the Michigan Public Service Commission disallowed the costs Indiana & Michigan Power (I&M) sought to recover for… Read more »
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Latest Ohio indictment ties Householder with other HB 6 conspirators
2024-03-26
By indicting former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder on 10 counts of corruption, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has closed the circle around the four men most responsible for the HB 6 scandal. In February, Yost indicted the two FirstEnergy officials — Chuck Jones and Michael Dowling — and former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio… Read more »
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Shadow of gas industry hovered over anti-solar rally
2024-03-6
To hear anti-renewable energy pundit Robert Bryce tell it, the fight over a proposed solar project in Knox County, Ohio, is between “big banks, big law firms and big NGOs” trying to steamroll plucky residents in rural America despised by urban elites. Except in this case, rural America is represented by the Ariel Corp., the… Read more »
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