Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Lobbying, PR and greenwashing · United States · 2017–2026

Ohio HB6 bribery scandal

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not measured · 2 unclear See the gaps

Between 2017 and 2020 the utility FirstEnergy paid about $60 million to a group controlled by the Speaker of the Ohio House while a 2019 law subsidising two nuclear plants and supporting coal plants was passed. The Speaker was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

~$60m vs ~$500mPaid to the Speaker's group vs extra paid by Ohio electricity customers
FirstEnergy payments 2017–2020; customers' extra payments through 2025, as reported.

Status As of October 2026: the Speaker's 20-year sentence reported upheld; FirstEnergy paid; the executives' state case ended without a verdict and a retrial is listed as pending.

What?
A utility paid about $60 million to a group controlled by the Ohio House Speaker while a law subsidising two nuclear plants and supporting coal plants was passed. Wikipedia
Where?
Ohio, United States. Wikipedia
When?
Payments 2017–2020; HB6 enacted 2019; sentencing June 2023. WYSO
Who?
Gained
  • FirstEnergy and coal plants — Support under HB6, a package of about $1.3 billion in a research table, partly repealed.
  • Two nuclear plants (owners not named in the record) — Subsidy of about $150 million a year. Wikipedia
Lost
  • Ohio electricity customers — Paid about $500 million more through 2025. Wikipedia
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The money was transferred to pass a law, according to the research record; the Speaker was convicted of bribery. WYSO
How?
Through Generation Now, a group controlled by the Speaker. Wikipedia
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

From 2017 to 2020 FirstEnergy transferred about $60 million to Generation Now, a group controlled by Larry Householder, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, according to the account of the case on Wikipedia used as a secondary source. The money moved while House Bill 6 (HB6) was being passed.

The law, enacted in 2019, gave two nuclear plants a subsidy of about $150 million a year, supported coal plants and reduced support for renewable energy. Electricity customers paid about $500 million more through 2025. A research table describes the package as about $1.3 billion, partly repealed later.

A repeal referendum backed by consumer advocates and by the natural gas industry did not reach the ballot. In that case companies from two sectors put in money: FirstEnergy on the nuclear and coal side, and the gas industry on the referendum side.

Householder was sentenced in June 2023 to 20 years in prison for bribery, according to WYSO. The research record says the sentence was upheld, the nuclear subsidy was clawed back and a refund of $186 million was ordered. It lists a Department of Justice (DOJ) payment of $230 million and a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) payment of $100 million by FirstEnergy. In the state trial of company executives, who were charged, the jury could not agree; a retrial is listed among pending cases.

  1. 2017FirstEnergy begins transfers to Generation Now, a group controlled by the House Speaker (to 2020, about $60m)
  2. 2019HB6 enacted: subsidy of about $150m a year for two nuclear plants, support for coal plants, less support for renewables
  3. 2023Householder sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery (WYSO, 29 June)
  4. 2025Customers reported to have paid about $500m extra through this year
  5. 2026Research record: sentence upheld, $186m refund ordered, executives' state trial ended without a verdict; retrial listed as pending

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • About $60 million moved from FirstEnergy to Generation Now between 2017 and 2020.
      Wikipedia
    • HB6 gave two nuclear plants about $150 million a year, supported coal plants and cut renewable-energy support.
      Wikipedia
    • Customers paid about $500 million more through 2025.
      Wikipedia
    • Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery in June 2023; the company paid $230 million.
      WYSO
    • Nuclear subsidy clawed back and a $186 million refund ordered; the sentence was upheld.
    • In the state trial of company executives the jury did not agree on a verdict.

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    No figure published.

    Gained elsewhere

    ≈ $1.3bn
    HB6 subsidy package as described in secondary sources (partly repealed)≈ $1.3bn
    Currency: USD · Window: 2017–2025. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. June 2023Claimant won
      United States v. Householder (federal bribery case)
      US federal court (court not named in the record) · Criminal · United States (DOJ) → Larry Householder, former Speaker of the Ohio House

      Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery. The research record says the sentence was upheld. WYSO

    2. Settled$230m million, paid by the company (DOJ)
      FirstEnergy: federal criminal matter
      US federal court (not named in the record) · Criminal · US Department of Justice → FirstEnergy

      The company closed the federal matter with a payment of $230 million, according to the research table citing WYSO. WYSO

    3. Outcome not on record$100m million, listed as an SEC amount
      FirstEnergy: SEC matter
      US Securities and Exchange Commission · Regulatory · US Securities and Exchange Commission → FirstEnergy

      The research record lists an SEC amount of $100 million without describing the proceeding.

    4. Ongoing
      State prosecution of FirstEnergy executives
      Ohio state court (not named in the record) · Criminal · State of Ohio → FirstEnergy executives (charged)

      In the state trial the jury could not agree. A retrial of the executives is listed among pending cases.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Support for coal plants
    Added
    HB6 supported coal plants (Wikipedia, secondary)
    Support for renewable energy
    Reduced
    HB6 reduced renewable subsidies (Wikipedia, secondary)
    Nuclear subsidy
    ~$150m a year
    For two nuclear plants; later clawed back, per the research record

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    Court ruling existsCase pending / contested

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Court

    • Unclear FirstEnergy: SEC matter: outcome not on record.

    Record

    • Unclear Retrial of the FirstEnergy executives: listed among pending cases; no outcome in the record.
    • None on record Nature of the SEC payment of $100 million: the record lists the amount without describing the proceeding.

    Did the harm stop?

    The nuclear subsidy was clawed back and a refund of $186 million was ordered, per the research record. The record does not show a measured change in Ohio's emissions.

    Who paid?

    Ohio electricity customers paid about $500 million more through 2025, according to the secondary source; the research record also says shareholders bore the company's penalties.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Institutions

    SEC
    The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates securities markets and what companies tell investors.
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