The utility spent ratepayer money on lobbying, other expenses
By TOM JOHNSON, ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT WRITER, NJ Spotlight News
Jersey Central Power & Light owes customers $9.6 million after improper costs were allocated to ratepayers, including funds possibly spent in a bribery scandal in Ohio, according to audits of its parent company, FirstEnergy of Akron, Ohio.
New Jersey’s second-largest utility mentioned paying out the refunds, which include interest, in a filing for a $185 million rate increase for its 1.1 million customers with the state Board of Public Utilities last week. If granted, the typical residential customer would see their monthly bill increase by $8.45, or 7.5%.
Chris Hoenig, a JCP&L spokesman denied that any of the money raised from ratepayers in New Jersey was spent in Ohio. “What we are refunding is money that was spent in New Jersey,’’ he said. It included, among other things, advertising, sponsorships, and lobbying. “The $9 million has nothing to do with Ohio,’’ he added.
Related:
FirstEnergy Fined $3.9M in Scandal Involving Nuke Plants
JCP&L faces more questions about Ohio bribery scandal
Earlier this month, the former speaker of the Ohio House and former Republican state chairman were convicted in a $60 million bribery and lobbying scheme to pass a bailout bill for FirstEnergy, the utility’s parent, and its nuclear power plants.
‘There is going to be a lot of forensic digging in this rate case. We are going to make sure what happened in Ohio doesn’t impact New Jersey ratepayers.’ — Brian Lipman, New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel
An audit made public in February by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found FirstEnergy included costs for the Ohio bribery investigation in all rates for all 10 of its franchised public utilities, including JCP&L, according to Dave Anderson, policy and communications manager at the Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog on clean energy and utility interests.
That audit spurred the agency to look into changes in accounting procedures governing utilities, Anderson said. Meanwhile, reports about the Ohio bribery investigation led the New Jersey BPU to launch an audit of JCP&L in May of 2021.
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