Jessy Edwards  |  February 11, 2021

Category: Legal News

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

FirstEnergy must face claims that Ohio ratepayers were harmed by its alleged paying of about $60 million in bribes

FirstEnergy must face claims that Ohio ratepayers were harmed by its alleged paying of about $60 million in bribes that were made to secure a billion-dollar nuclear power plant bailout bill.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. decisively rejected FirstEnergy Corp.’s efforts to block the ratepayer’s class action lawsuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)

“Plaintiffs’ allegations show that there is no better plaintiff or group of plaintiffs to bring this civil RICO claim, which argues that Defendants, through their alleged bribery to enact [House Bill 6], caused the increased costs to them as ratepayers,” Judge Sargus Jr. wrote in the order.

The class action lawsuit comes after criminal charges were laid against former Ohio Speaker Larry Householder and others for their alleged scheme to enact House Bill 6. 

The Bill — which passed and was signed into law July 2019 — was to save two company nuclear power plants from closing, in part by having ratepayers subsidize them through monthly surcharges. The surcharges were meant to start last month, but have been blocked by a temporary injunction.

FirstEnergy is accused of making the million dollar payments to Generation Now, a nonprofit allegedly controlled by Householder, Law360 reports. 

Those funds were then allegedly used to support the campaigns of Ohio House candidates supporting Householder, and to block an initiative to overturn the bill. 

In its attempts to prevent Ohio ratepayers’ class action lawsuit, FirstEnergy argued in a motion to dismiss that its customers had not been harmed and any potential injuries weren’t caused by the utility’s alleged misconduct. 

However, Judge Sargus Jr. rejected the argument, writing in his opinion and order that there were no better plaintiffs to “vindicate” the civil RICO statute.

“There was only ever one group of individuals or entities who could be injured by Defendants’ scheme to bribe legislators to ensure favorable legislation—the ratepayers,” he wrote. 

FirstEnergy also said in its motion that because the extra charges to ratepayers have not begun, and may never begin due to the criminal litigation and resulting political implications, ratepayers cannot prove harm.

But Judge Sargus Jr. shot down the argument, noting that the injunction on the surcharges were only temporary, and the bill has not been repealed. 

“Defendants assert that the surcharges may never be collected due to state judicial or legislative action. This is speculation. HB 6, as of now, is an enacted state law that contains a specific date for collecting the surcharges.”  

Murray & Murray lawyer for the ratepayers Dennis E. Murray Jr. told Law360 Wednesday that FirstEnergy’s argument to strike down the class action lawsuit was “preposterous.” 

“The defendants even argued that plaintiffs could not prove a causal link between the bribery and the desired outcome, but as the court recognized, that gives rise to a pretty good inference that the defendants knew what they were getting, otherwise they would not have paid $60 million,” he said.

Are you a customer of FirstEnergy who has been affected by this class action lawsuit? Share your experience in the comments below.

The class action lawsuit members are represented by Dennis E. Murray Jr., Margaret M. Murray and William H. Bartle of Murray & Murray, Richard M. Kerger of The Kerger Law Firm, Marvin A. Miller and Andrew Szot of Miller Law LLC and Kevin P. Roddy of Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer PA.

The FirstEnergy Bribery Ratepayer Class Action Lawsuit is Jacob Smith v. FirstEnergy Corp. et al., Brian Hudock et al. v. FirstEnergy Corp. and James Buldas v. FirstEnergy Corp. et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-03755, 2:20-cv-03954 and 2:20-cv- 03987, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. 

We tell you about cash you can claim EVERY WEEK! Sign up for our free newsletter.

11 thoughts onOhio Ratepayers Get Day in Court Over FirstEnergy’s $60M Bribery Scheme

  1. Juan stewart says:

    Paying double bill for months then jumps up and down

  2. Jennifer Ward says:

    Please contact me as well. The rates are ridiculous and I am paying double every month

    1. Jessica Jackson says:

      I am too and the bills are hot I called and they told me that they’re doing an estimate and estimate I’ve never lived here before so how they going to do it estimate off of my rates when I never lived at a house before so I’m going off of someone else’s rates that’s not even cool and then when I gave him the numbers they told me yeah they messed up I will get a discount I never got a discount I got double the bill

  3. James Vanazia says:

    James Vanazia I have First Energy in New Castle Pa March and April bill was 222 and 228 and magically may its 128 didn’t do anything different??

  4. James Vanazia says:

    James Vanazia

    1. James Vanazia says:

      James Vanazia I have First Energy in New Castle Pa March and April bill was 222 and 228 and magically may its 128 didn’t do anything different??

  5. Julie A Dietz says:

    I have proof first energy is overcharging me!!! I take pictures of my electric meter at least once a month on the “meter reading day” and sometimes at other random times. PUCO is not addressing the issue for me. I have tried & they wouldn’t even contact me via email as promised in the ten days since I first contacted them. I am now calling them daily but its obviously a total waste of my time because my “case manager” is either on the hotline or not in the office.
    I just go another bill where they took an actual reading on March 29th and the number is HIGHER than the picture I took on April 1. When I tried to call in the number the recording would not take my reading because an “actual” reading was recently taken. I need some legal help;. This is outright FRAUD!!! at present, I show an overbilling for 1607 kWhrs and they only gave me a credit of 282 kWhrs.
    I have been tracking their fraud since 2015-2016. Their subsidiuary, FirstEnergySolutions, LLC have frauded us and my community hundreds of thousands of dollars, the parent company seems to be doing the same thing. I would have NO PROBLEM starting a class action lawsuit!!!

  6. Charles Brown says:

    Ive been paying for first energy and then have to pay a non profit company and have called and asked why Im being charged by two company’s for the same service. I need your help

  7. Cindy Wagner says:

    I have first energy

  8. J says:

    I think I was going through this company at some point years ago. Is there any way to confirm?

  9. uil says:

    i am using first energy. please contact me

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. By submitting your comment and contact information, you agree to receive marketing emails from Top Class Actions regarding this and/or similar lawsuits or settlements, and/or to be contacted by an attorney or law firm to discuss the details of your potential case at no charge to you if you qualify. Required fields are marked *

Please note: Top Class Actions is not a settlement administrator or law firm. Top Class Actions is a legal news source that reports on class action lawsuits, class action settlements, drug injury lawsuits and product liability lawsuits. Top Class Actions does not process claims and we cannot advise you on the status of any class action settlement claim. You must contact the settlement administrator or your attorney for any updates regarding your claim status, claim form or questions about when payments are expected to be mailed out.