Kathiann M. Kowalski, Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio advocates racing to ‘Trump-proof’ recent gains

Advocates in Ohio are stepping up their clean energy efforts in response to the Republican party platform and Project 2025, which detail how a second Trump administration would promote fossil fuels while cutting back federal programs for addressing climate change, environmental justice and equity.

Over the past year, Ohio-based governments and groups have won awards for hundreds of millions of dollars under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Federal policy takes on added significance in a state like Ohio, where lawmakers have already placed extra hurdles in the way of clean energy development. That has left it up to local governments and private organizations to take the lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Some of that work did move ahead during the former Trump administration, said Mike Foley, director of sustainability for Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland. But, “we had to scramble and struggle to get projects done.”

“Having resources from the federal government makes things so much easier,” Foley said.

Just this week, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a grant of roughly $129 million to a partnership among Cuyahoga County and the cities of Cleveland and Painesville to build a 35 megawatt solar power facility and 10 megawatts of battery storage, and to shut down a coal-fired power plant.

Earlier in July, the Federal Transit Authority awarded a $10.6 million grant under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority for ten electric buses and chargers for low-income, high-ridership areas. More than $40 million will go to other projects in Ohio.

“These dollars are changing communities for the better,” said Chris Tavenor, general counsel for the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund.

Project 2025 — a policy blueprint for a possible Trump presidency produced by the Heritage Foundation — calls for repealing the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, threatening funding for additional work in Ohio and elsewhere, as well as weakening environmental protections and programs to promote equity. While former President Donald Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, he has multiple links to authors and editors of the roughly 900-page report, and has repeatedly pledged to end Biden energy policies he has dubbed the “green new scam.”

“This is getting rid of everything that’s moved the needle forward on climate and energy,” said Neil Waggoner, the Midwest manager for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal program.

While it’s unclear whether who will win in November, advocates are nonetheless preparing for a potential Trump presidency now.

Maximizing gains

The GOP platform and Project 2025 make clear what types of energy policies to expect if there’s a change in administration, said Melinda Pierce, legislative director for the Sierra Club.

“It’s in black and white,” Pierce said. So now, the Sierra Club is focusing on how to “Trump-proof the gains we have made.”

One push is to help local officials identify and apply for funding opportunities that are available now. “We don’t want to leave that money on the table,” Pierce said, adding that once money is in hand it “buys a lot of goodwill and inertia.”

That goodwill might limit the extent to which federal lawmakers would scale back programs bringing money to their states, according to conservative clean energy advocates who met at the Republican National Convention last week. Others are also collaborating with partners to get money for projects in hand as soon as possible.

“We are taking a proactive approach to reach out to funders to secure funding to continue the work and advocacy for energy, climate and environmental justice,” said SeMia Bray, co-leader for Black Environmental Leaders, which collaborates with regional partners to provide resources and support for environmental and economic justice initiatives.

Jonathan Welle, executive director for Cleveland Owns, said his organization plans to apply this summer for a “substantial federal grant that would put money in the hands of longtime northeast Ohio communities, specifically Black and Brown communities, so they can chart their own energy future.”

Welle said he’s not at liberty to discuss the proposed project’s details, but did say the group expects it would hear about grant awards late this year or in early 2025.

“But the timing for that and the follow through from the federal government…is highly dependent on the next few political moves, including November’s election,” he added.

Work to secure federal funding didn’t just spring up overnight, though. The Reimagine Appalachia coalition has been working for several years with stakeholders in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania to build capacity to absorb and direct that funding. Periodic information sessions spotlight funding opportunities and promote networking for local governments or others to develop ideas for projects. There’s even a forthcoming “grant of the month club” event.

“It’s really important to be doing this work and making sure that this current opportunity is taken advantage of,” said Amanda Woodrum, one of Reimagine Appalachia’s co-directors.

At the same time, she warned against speeding up the process too quickly.

“It takes time to put the infrastructure in place to actually direct it and make sure [funding] doesn’t go to the same old political channels,” Woodrum explained.

Going too quickly also increases the risk of backlash if projects aren’t well thought out, don’t provide what people in communities want, or otherwise fail.

“You don’t want it to go sideways,” Woodrum said. “You want to make sure you do it right.”

Getting the word out

Messaging is another top priority for advocates as the fall election draws near.

“We are continuing our efforts of voter education, making sure the communities we love and support have updated registration and understand the importance of this election, and all elections on the local level,” Bray said.

Volunteers for Save Ohio Parks have been trying to limit drilling and fracking under state-owned parks and wildlife areas since early 2023, and now face the possibility of more drilling and fossil fuel development under a possible Republican administration.

“Yet Save Ohio Parks is determined to stay positive and keep our eyes on the prize,” said Melinda Zemper, a member of the group’s steering committee. The group is expanding its volunteer base and building additional coalitions with other environmental groups in Ohio.

Advocates also want to get out the word about benefits from current federal programs so voters are aware of what’s at stake.

“The Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund will continue its work to emphasize how the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and other important federal programs benefit Ohio communities and help combat the causes of climate change,” Tavenor said. Without continued progress, climate change costs for Ohioans will get worse, he noted.

Messaging by the Sierra Club, Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund and other advocates also highlights the implications of Project 2025 for equity and democracy.

“Project 2025’s extreme proposals are specifically structured to benefit polluting industries at the expense of the health and environment of our communities,” Tavenor said. “Simply put, Project 2025 is a government takeover that threatens our democracy, designed by wealthy billionaires to benefit themselves and their power-hungry allies.”

This article first appeared on Energy News Network and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and X.

Ohio corruption trial: 'It would be bad for both of us if the story came out'

This monthly newsletter provides updates on Ohio’s ongoing utility corruption scandal and is a joint project of Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism, and the nonprofit Energy News Network.

“It would be bad for both of us if the story came out. But it would be worse for you,” lobbyist Matt Borges told an FBI informant in a recorded conversation back in 2019.

Details about that story and others are coming out at the trial of Borges and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder on criminal charges relating to Ohio’s 2019 nuclear and coal bailout law, House Bill 6.

Developments in the case and other matters within the past month include:

Householder and Borges’ trial is moving ahead, but with daily Covid testing after a second juror tested positive for the virus last week.So far, defendants’ cross-examination underscores their themes that the HB 6 scandal was basically politics as usual in Ohio, that Householder thought the law was a good idea, and that any dark money involved in the scandal was a form of constitutionally protected free speech.Testimony and exhibits show the five individual defendants in the case reaped financial benefits of roughly $4.3 million. The group includes Householder and Borges, deceased lobbyist Neil Clark, and Juan Cespedes and Jeff Longstreth, who have both pled guilty.Gov. Mike DeWine named John Williams to take the PUCO commissioner seat vacated by Beth Trombold. The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel wants reforms to the nomination process.Ohio Republicans have talked in the last month about introducing anti-corruption bills in the legislature. It’s unclear if the proposals would have prevented the alleged abuses underlying HB 6.

What’s at stake

Stakes in the House Bill 6 case go beyond Ohio’s energy generation mix and how much people pay for electricity. The case is shining a light on dark money — funds used to influence the political process in ways the public can’t trace.

Under the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling, organizations can spend unlimited amounts on political causes, as long as they don’t coordinate with a candidate’s campaign. Common forms of dark money groups include nonprofits set up under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and nonpublic companies known as limited liability corporations.

501(c)(4) groups are particularly ripe for abuse as a money laundering tool, said former U.S. Attorney David DeVillers at a Jan. 18 Columbus Metropolitan Club panel. A lack of disclosure requirements raises the potential for bribery, which is among the alleged underlying crimes for the racketeering charges in the case against Householder, Borges and others.

Generation Now, the primary dark money group in the alleged conspiracy, might also have violated conditions for its tax-exempt status, which require that candidate campaigns can’t be the primary purpose of a 501(c)(4) group. Funds from a nonprofit also should not personally benefit individuals.

Corruption claims affect the perceived legitimacy of Ohio’s state government.

Multiple levels of dark money groups also undermine the spending limits and donor disclosure requirements of campaign finance laws. That’s especially so when there’s coordination with a candidate’s campaign, as shown by some trial exhibits in the Householder case.

Ohioans’ constitutional rights are also at issue. Provisions in the Ohio Constitution could have given voters a chance to reject HB 6 in 2020 in a referendum. Prosecutors allege the defendants’ actions thwarted efforts to get the law on the ballot.

Money matters, too. HB 6’s nuclear subsidies and revenue guarantee provisions were repealed in 2021, but Ohioans continue to subsidize two 1950s-era coal plants.

Tracking by the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel estimates consumers have paid almost $147 million for those plants since the start of 2020. Under Ohio law, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio likely “can’t refund any money that’s still being collected,” said former commissioner Ashley Brown, who also spoke at the Jan. 18 panel.

‘And it paid off’

Prosecuting attorney Emily Glatfelter’s opening argument told a story that Householder and co-conspirators “sold the Statehouse.” The defendants allegedly used dark money groups to funnel millions paid by FirstEnergy, its affiliates and others to pass and protect more than $1 billion in bailouts for non-competitive power plants.

Voluminous exhibits and testimony document the flow of more than $60 million from FirstEnergy and its affiliates through nonprofits or limited liability companies and into dark money groups allegedly controlled by Householder or otherwise set up in furtherance of a conspiracy.

The evidence also shows frequent communications by then-high-ranking FirstEnergy executives with each other and with Householder and other members of the alleged conspiracy.

For example, when HB 6 passed and was signed into law on July 23, 2019, texts between former CEO Chuck Jones and a former vice-president congratulated each other about having made “big bets.”

“And it paid off,” Jones wrote.

On the stand

FBI special agent Blaine Wetzel testified for more than a week. Next up in the government’s case was fundraiser and communications expert Anna Lippincott. She worked with Longstreth, the president of Generation Now, which was the primary dark money group in the alleged conspiracy. Longstreth, a co-defendant in the case, pled guilty in October 2020 and is expected to testify for the government.

Co-defendant Juan Cespedes, who also pled guilty, took the stand after Lippincott. He testified that people acting on behalf of FirstEnergy Solutions made it clear to Householder that the company’s financial support hinged on getting a bailout for the nuclear plants. At the time, the company was a wholly owned FirstEnergy subsidiary.

Among other things, Cespedes testified about a 2018 meeting where a FirstEnergy check for $400,000 was given to Householder.

Although FirstEnergy was not named as a defendant in the Householder case, the company admitted wrongdoing in a July 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. Treasurer Steven Staub has testified that the company was “bleeding cash” because of its non-competitive power plants. It’s unclear yet who else from the company may testify.

Subpoenas have also been issued for several current or former lawmakers and Ohio Attorney General David Yost. The government’s witness list also includes Megan Fitzmartin, a former political consultant for Householder.

Court orders extend immunity to two potential witnesses so far.

Freezing assets?

The Supreme Court of Ohio will hear Yost’s appeal of a lower court order that would make him release a freeze of certain assets of Sam Randazzo. The former chair of the Public Utilities Commission Ohio is a defendant in the state’s civil lawsuit relating to HB 6.

Randazzo resigned in November 2020, after FBI agents’ early-morning search of his home and FirstEnergy’s disclosure that it paid $4.3 million to a company linked to Randazzo shortly before he became PUCO chair. He has not been named as a defendant in criminal proceedings.

New PUCO commissioner

Gov. Mike DeWine has named John Williams to replace Beth Trombold on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Williams, who said he is politically independent, has been at the PUCO for roughly 20 years, most recently as director of transportation. He also spent nearly a decade in the natural gas and telecommunications industries. He still needs to be confirmed by the Ohio Senate.

DeWine chose Williams over Independent Christopher Healey and Democrats Mike Skindell and Jeff Crossman. Skindell, of Lakewood, continues to serve in the Ohio House of Representatives. Crossman, whose term there ended in December, unsuccessfully ran against Yost for attorney general last fall.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel has called for reform in the PUCO nominating process. Among other things, the consumers’ counsel wants all Nominating Council meetings, including candidate interviews, to be public.

Candidates should also provide more complete financial disclosures, consumers’ counsel board chair Michael Watkins wrote in November, noting former PUCO Chair Sam Randazzo’s financial relationship with a FirstEnergy affiliate through one of his companies.

“It’s news to me,” Nominating Council Chair Greg Lashutka said on Feb. 10, noting that he had not seen the letter and the consumers’ counsel representative did not bring it up at last month’s council meeting.

Lashutka also said he did not discuss Nominating Council matters with his daughter-in-law, Megan Lashutka, who was a registered lobbyist for FirstEnergy on HB 6 in 2019, as well as two other energy-related bills. “I don’t even know who her clients are,” he said.

Anti-corruption bills?

Ohio Republicans have announced plans for two bills to address corruption in state government. Whether either proposal would have prevented the alleged corruption in the HB 6 case is unclear.

On Jan. 18, Rep. Derek Merrin, who lost a bid to become House speaker last month, described one bill to require more financial disclosures from lobbyists, members of the PUCO and others.

A separate proposal announced by State Auditor Keith Faber on Feb. 2 would require more training and speedy reporting when agency officials suspect a crime. That bill is expected to be introduced in the Ohio Senate.

This article first appeared on Energy News Network and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David DeWitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook and Twitter.