The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio this week landed on FirstEnergy “like a ton of bricks,” ordering the utility to pay more than $250 million in penalties for its misconduct in the House Bill 6 scandal and other sins.

But Today in Ohio podcast hosts can’t understand why PUCO is ordering the utility to refund $187 million it collected from customers in a fraudulent grid update scheme instead of forcing it to make the improvements customers paid for.

The $250 million penalty package is on top of $390 million in previous penalties and settlements related to the biggest bribery scandal in Ohio history. However, the most troubling aspect involves the $187 million FirstEnergy collected specifically for grid modernization—money they took while launching a public relations campaign abou

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