The plan to overhaul Ohio’s energy policy would get rid of the state’s green energy standards and would likely bailout nuclear power plants. The utility company, FirstEnergy, has been strongly advocating for those two things to happen for years now.
Republican House Speaker Larry Householder has a connection to FirstEnergy. FirstEnergy donated more than $150,000 to House Republicans during the 2018 election.
Now Householder is pushing for a new energy plan that would steer about $170 million in subsidies to two nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, which used to be a subsidiary of FirstEnergy.
Householder denied a connection but argued for the merit of a large employer making big campaign donations.
“For them to care about those people who are trying to serve the state of Ohio and make sure they’ve got good quality candidates moving forward I think is important for anybody," he said.
FirstEnergy Solutions plans to close their two nuclear plants by 2021 if they don’t get legislative relief.
