People behind a "dark money" group that prosecutors say was the vehicle used to ensure Ohio's controversial nuclear subsidy legislation became law have agreed to plead guilty in a federal racketeering conspiracy case.
Jeffrey Longstreth, a representative of Generation Now, signed a plea agreement filed Feb. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio admitting the group's role in the bribery scheme. The plea is not official until accepted by the court. (United States of America v. Generation Now, Case No. 1:20-CR-00077)
As part of the agreement, Generation Now will plead guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and will face up to five years of probation, a fine of "not more than $500,000" and "twice the gross pecuniary gain" derived from the crime, along with restitution and forfeiture. Generation Now has agreed to immediately forfeit about $1.47 million held in two separate bank accounts.
An FBI affidavit filed in late July 2020 implies that Ohio investor-owned utility FirstEnergy Corp. and affiliated entities, though not mentioned by name, wired millions of dollars through the 501(c)(4) nonprofit group to support House Bill 6 and the efforts of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, while defeating a ballot initiative to overturn the law.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio and the FBI filed criminal charges against Householder and four associates accused of accepting more than $60 million in bribes to steer the bill through the Ohio Legislature. Plea agreements for lobbyist Juan Cespedes and Longstreth, a longtime political consultant for Householder, were filed in late October 2020 in the federal district court in Cincinnati.
H.B. 6 established a now-paused $9/MWh credit for clean air resources in order to provide $150 million in annual financial support for the 908-MW Davis-Besse and 1,268-MW Perry nuclear plants. The units are owned by Energy Harbor Corp., the new name of former FirstEnergy subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.
The case has led to the termination of former FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones Jr. and other senior company executives, as well as the resignation of the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Householder has been charged with racketeering and is still a member of the Ohio House of Representatives.
Efforts by lawmakers to amend or repeal H.B. 6 have yet to come to fruition. FirstEnergy's Ohio distribution utilities recently agreed to forgo a decoupling provision in the law under a settlement with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.