COLUMBUS, Ohio -- FBI agents searched Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo’s home on Monday.
Agents were seen entering and exiting Randazzo’s home in Columbus' German Village neighborhood on Monday morning. They declined to comment.
“We’re conducting court authorized law enforcement activity in that area related to a sealed federal search warrant,” said Todd Lindgren, a spokesman for the FBI’s Cincinnati office. “So I can’t go into any additional details.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer was first to report the presence of the FBI at Randazzo’s home.
The PUCO’s offices were not part of the search, an agency spokesman said.
“We are aware of the search warrant and will monitor this as it progresses, but we have no further comment at this time,” said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine.
Sam Randazzo is chairman of the PUCO, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. (Photo from Public Utilities Commission of Ohio)
Randazzo has chaired the PUCO, which regulates electricity providers and other utilities in Ohio, since DeWine appointed him in February 2019. Before that, he was a longtime lawyer for the utility industry, a connection that has drawn criticism from environmental groups, who recently launched a campaign to oust him.
The PUCO earlier this month began an audit of FirstEnergy to see whether the company broke any laws or regulations regarding its interactions with an ex-subsidiary while the companies pushed to secure House Bill 6, a $1 billion-plus ratepayer bailout of two nuclear power plants the former subsidiary owns.
The search at Randazzo’s home follows more than a year of investigation by the FBI into the Ohio state government. The FBI in July arrested then-House Speaker Larry Householder and four others, charging them with accepting $61 million in bribes from FirstEnergy and its affiliates in exchange for Householder’s help passing HB6. The money was spent to help Householder become speaker, to pressure lawmakers to pass HB6 and then to defend it against a repeal effort, authorities said.
Householder has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. No one at FirstEnergy has been formally charged, and the company has denied wrongdoing. But FirstEnergy earlier this month fired CEO Chuck Jones and two other top executives, citing unspecified violations of company policy.