TOLEDO, Ohio — The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has ordered FirstEnergy's utility companies to pay $250 million in penalties and customer refunds after the commission determined the company had violated Ohio laws and commission orders.

In a press release Wednesday, PUCO said these orders were the result of a criminal investigation into FirstEnergy, brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. The investigation surrounded the passage of Amended Substitute House Bill 6, which passed during the 133rd General Assembly.

PUCO found that FirstEnergy's Ohio utilities - Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison - "failed to demonstrate" that they adhered to a 2016 Commission order authorizing it to collect a "distribution modernization rider" to support th

See Full Page