The judge orders FirstEnergy to turn over the results of its internal investigation into HB 6 to the OCC

A judge’s decision could lead FirstEnergy to release its internal investigation into the HB 6 scandal, which led to the conviction and sentencing of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder on racketeering charges last year.

More: Unanswered questions: How Ohio’s top utility regulator got caught up in the pay-to-play scandal

In a press release Wednesday afternoon, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) said that U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley ruled Monday that FirstEnergy Corp.’s internal investigation reports. must be published after the company did not present its arguments to keep the documents secret.

JP Blackwood, public affairs liaison for the OCC, said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening that the OCC has been trying to get access to the reports for years, first from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

“I expect more information to come out at some point,” Blackwood said.

Maureen Willis, agency director for the OCC, welcomed Marbley’s decision on the internal reports.

“This ruling is another step in finding answers for consumers about the FirstEnergy House Bill 6 scandal,” Willis said in a prepared statement. “These internal investigation reports from FirstEnergy should have been made public years ago, but were shielded from public scrutiny by the PUCO.”

More: FirstEnergy’s CEO says the company may have to “put money on the table” to overcome the scandal

It was not immediately clear Wednesday evening whether FirstEnergy has further options to appeal and delay the release of the results of its internal investigation.

If the FirstEnergy reports become part of the court records, they will be subject to records requests.

In the press release, the OCC said it “expects to receive the long-awaited documents soon.”

In a brief response late Wednesday evening, FirstEnergy released the following statement: “We disagree with the OCC’s statement and are reviewing the district court’s decision.”

Blackwood said the OCC is acting in the interests of consumers.

“I think the bottom line is that we worked to find out the truth about what happened,” Blackwood said. “We want justice for consumers.”

FirstEnergy, its subsidiaries and its allies paid more than $60 million to help Householder gain control of the Ohio House of Representatives, pass a $1 billion bailout for two nuclear power plants and this law to defend against a ballot initiative intended to block it.

More: Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj or Facebook at www.facebook.com/alan.newsman.

This article originally appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal: Judge rules FirstEnergy must turn HB 6 internal investigation over to OCC