Energy

Former PUCO chair texted he knew FirstEnergy charge was likely unlawful, but company would keep money anyway

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Texts about the $456 million charge may further undermine public confidence in the PUCO. This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting. Newly disclosed texts from a former head of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio suggest he knew a grid modernization charge that cost ratepayers nearly half a billion dollars was “likely to be found illegal and could not be refunded.”

Former PUCO Chair Asim Haque and former FirstEnergy Vice President Michael Dowling exchanged text messages on the same day the Supreme Court of Ohio held the charge unlawful. Challengers in the case had argued that the commission’s order imposing the charge basically had no strings attached to make FirstEnergy take any specific actions to modernize the grid.

arson

Who torched the Hamilton home?

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The couple who put their blood, sweat, and tears into building a home to care for their elderly parents and others. The millionaires next door who made it clear they were not welcome. And the dream that mysteriously went up in smoke. This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join Eye on Ohio's free mailing list as this helps provide more public service reporting to the community.

affordability

Water bill woes part 2: What can Philadelphia learn from Cleveland’s water department?

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Exploring what can be done to help cities’ poorest residents who struggle with water debt

This is part two of a three-part series looking at the state of water affordability in Cleveland, Philadelphia and beyond, authored by the Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative in partnership with Resolve Philly in Philadelphia. You can find Part 1 here. Robert Ballenger’s office in Center City Philadelphia is filled to the brim with stacks of paperwork. It’s just one small sign of the complexity of the assistance programs his low-income clients need. Ballenger, an attorney who deals with utility issues at the nonprofit Community Legal Services, has helped dozens of people apply for Philadelphia’s Tiered Assistance Program (TAP), which provides residents with low incomes a major discount on their water bills.

Poverty

Sidebar: Why compare Cleveland and Philadelphia, and why does this matter?

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Across the U.S., the cost of water and sewer has only gotten more expensive over the last several decades, with the average water bill increasing by 30% between 2012 and 2019, according to a utility bill index conducted by Bluefield Research. 

As of 2019, low-income households spent an average of almost 10% of their disposable income each month to pay for basic monthly water and sewer services, according to a study out of Texas A&M University. 

And in both Cleveland and Philadelphia, the pandemic and the cities’ high poverty rates mean there are thousands of people behind on their water bills. As of November 2021, almost 10% of all Cleveland Water customers – about 40,000 customers – were behind on their water and sewer bills by six months or more, a rate that’s far higher than non-pandemic years. More than 1 in 4 Cleveland Water customers were behind on at least one bill that month, and in Philadelphia, nearly a third of customers were at least one bill behind in March 2021. Despite a significant difference in population size, the city of Cleveland isn’t so different from Philadelphia. The water systems that serve both cities are municipality-owned and serve a wide geographic area, with the Cleveland Water Department servicing about 440,000 accounts and the Philadelphia Water Department servicing almost 500,000.

Energy

Dark money helped Ohio utilities subsidize coal plants, delaying climate action at ratepayers’ expense

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The biggest corruption scandal in Ohio’s history happened right under people’s noses, and much of the law at its center remains on the books. This story originated from the Energy News Network and Eye on Ohio and is part of ‘Climate & Democracy,’ a series from the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. It has been three years since Ohio lawmakers first introduced the power plant bailout legislation that is now at the heart of the largest corruption case in state history. Since House Bill 6 passed in 2019, an FBI investigation has revealed a $60 million bribery scheme, leading to extensive admissions by FirstEnergy — a utility company central to the scandal — and guilty pleas from three defendants in a federal criminal case. 

Beyond that, though, accountability has been slow to come, and HB 6, which also gutted the state’s clean energy standards, remains on the books. Just as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report notes how vested interests have blocked progress on climate change mitigation, the HB 6 scandal shows how utility, fossil fuel and nuclear interests have framed Ohio energy policy, even when that policy conflicts with voter preferences on renewable energy.

dark money

Ohio regulatory judge steps back from FirstEnergy’s HB 6 cases after subpoenaed records reveal his role

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Greg Price’s recusal comes shortly after newly released documents show he played a part in policy discussions on HB 6 and responses to the FirstEnergy scandal. 

This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting. An Ohio regulatory official has stepped away from four FirstEnergy regulatory cases just three weeks after the release of subpoenaed documents showing he took part in policy matters relating to House Bill 6, the nuclear and coal bailout law at the heart of an ongoing corruption scandal. The materials show that Gregory Price, a hearing examiner overseeing House Bill 6 cases for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, was looped in on policy communications with former PUCO Chair Sam Randazzo before the law passed in 2019 and when bills to repeal it were proposed in 2020, in the wake of the arrests of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and others. Later disclosures by FirstEnergy implicated Randazzo in the scandal; he has resigned from his position but denied culpability.

dark money

Former Ohio regulator linked to $4 million payoff directed agency to limit response to FirstEnergy corruption

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Former PUCO Chair Sam Randazzo shaped agency responses to HB 6 scandal: ‘Proactive’ show-cause action followed only after bad publicity. Randazzo and others closely tracked legislative actions as well. 

This article is provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism in partnership with the nonprofit Energy News Network. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio or the Energy News Network, as this helps provide more public service reporting. Newly produced documents show that Sam Randazzo, former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, came up with the idea to let FirstEnergy show it didn’t use ratepayer money for House Bill 6, the nuclear and coal bailout law at the heart of Ohio’s largest corruption case. The move was far short of a full investigation that consumer advocates have called for.

AI

Plaintiff, Defendant, and Judge: How some Ohio counties entrust the same officials to collect taxes and wipe tax liens

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This project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join the free mailing lists for Eye on Ohio as this helps provide more public service reporting. Shortly after Athens County started a land bank in 2018, Matt Bunting put in a land bank application for an abandoned church next to his property. Neighbors had taken turns cutting the grass, but overgrown trees had fallen on a house, garage, and car. 

After waiting years, Bunting had given up hope. He said land bank officials offered the property to the Buchtel Village Council.

AI

How do public officials make Land Bank decisions? Artificial Intelligence may seek patterns

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Al Jenkins outside of his Cleveland home. This project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join Eye on Ohio's free mailing list as this helps provide more public service reporting to the community. Al Jenkins has what neighbors called “the nicest house on the block.” The renovated historic structure has fresh gray paint and manicured landscaping. A side lawn looks like it also is his.

AI

Sidebar: What is Artificial Intelligence and why use it to look at public records?

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This project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join the free mailing list for Eye on Ohio as this helps provide more public-service reporting. Meredith Broussard notes in her book, “Artificial Unintelligence,” that “AI” is a bit of a misnomer. True artificial intelligence means computers have finally achieved consciousness. Scientists are a long way away - if that is even possible. 

Why then has “artificial intelligence” become ubiquitous?  Major companies and the state of Ohio refer to AI as vital to speech recognition, self-driving cars and web searches.