Ohio sues to block nuclear bailout money from being paid

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s attorney general sued Wednesday in an attempt to block the state’s nuclear plants from collecting fees on electricity bills that were authorized in a new law at the center of a $60 million federal bribery probe involving the former speaker of the Ohio House.

Attorney General Dave Yost filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Court in Columbus against Energy Harbor, asking the judge to block payments to the company's two nuclear plants near Cleveland and Toledo that were bailed out through the now-tainted legislation.

The bailout is funded by a fee that will be added to every electricity bill in the state starting Jan. 1 — directing over $150 million a year, through 2026, to the two nuclear plants. This fee is still set to go into effect at the start of the new year if the Legislature does not repeal the law by then.

Energy Harbor is the former FirstEnergy Solutions, a onetime subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. The subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 amid a mounting load brought on by the rise of competition from natural gas power in the East and Midwest.

The lawsuit came hours after a House committee looking at repealing the law heard varying proponent testimony from energy lobbying groups and state office representing consumers.

Yost had previously promised he would take the legal remedies necessary if the General Assembly could not do so in time.

The lawsuit also seeks to freeze the assets of former House Speaker Larry Householder’s $1 million campaign fund and dissolve the dark money groups involved in the bribery scheme, Yost said.

“Corruption like this doesn’t happen without cash, lots of cash,” he said.

Federal prosecutors in July accused Householder and four others of shepherding energy company money for...