"Power Corrupts" #3: How FirstEnergy Bought the White House
Going Federal
Frustrated with state commissioners and legislators, FirstEnergy's CEO in 2017 turned his subsidy supplications toward the White House and secretly provided $5 million to a Trump-aligned dark-money group, America First Policies. Chuck Jones, after becoming a Trump contributor, got the chance to plead his bailout case personally before the president, who, according to the executive's notes, said, "We're doing it, period." To the executive's delight, the president added, "We are on the same team."
The Trump Meeting
To further secure the administration's support, Chuck engaged Corey Lewandowski, the president's tough-talking former campaign manager. Although denying he worked for the power corporation, Lewandowski became part of FirstEnergy's "DOE Team" that pushed to have the U.S. Department of Energy advance a federal bailout of uneconomic power plants. When Trump ordered DOE to "stop the loss" of coal and nuclear generators, Lewandowski boasted in an email to that team: "Boom!!!"
Shortly thereafter, FirstEnergy's "friends" ponied up another $1.5 million at a Trump fundraiser in northeastern Ohio. One lobbyist noted that a senior advisor to the president's campaign subsequently called Ohio House members to express support for HB 6, the FirstEnergy bailout bill.
Hiring Muscle
To lobby Energy Secretary Rick Perry and other Trump officials, FirstEnergy executives flew the company's two aircraft on thirty-one trips to the District of Columbia, and in the same month, they spent almost $4 million at DC-based lobbyists.
Pushback
Despite the political clout of bailout seekers, a significant number of Republican and Democrat legislators labeled the requested payouts "corporate welfare" and "just a tax on customers" designed to "do favors" for friends of the Trump administration. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, though its new chairman had represented FirstEnergy when he worked at the law firm Jones Day, ignored FirstEnergy's political pressure and ruled that such special benefits would distort energy markets.
Lewandowski declared displeasure with this decision by the five-member federal board, four of whom Trump nominated. "The deep state is very real," he barked when attacking "government officials who don't support the Trump agenda."
Round Two
In Trump's second term, the utility-supported president is slashing funds for renewable energy while advancing the coal and nuclear projects of electricity monopolies. Meanwhile, the convicted former speaker of the Ohio House, a MAGA supporter serving a 20-year term in federal prison for his role in the FirstEnergy scandal, is appealing for a presidential pardon.
Why This Matters to You
When utility corruption reaches the White House, it doesn't just rig state politics—it warps federal energy policy that affects every American. FirstEnergy's $6.5 million in Trump-related payments helped block clean energy investments nationwide while propping up their failing power plants. Your tax dollars fund the Department of Energy that was pressured to bail out uneconomic generators. Your electricity rates reflect the distorted markets these schemes create. When utilities can buy access to the presidency, the entire energy system gets rigged against consumers and climate progress.
Next Week
How did we get here? Next week, we travel back in time to meet the man who invented the template for utility corruption: Samuel Insull, Thomas Edison's secretary who became America's first energy tycoon, then a fugitive fleeing to Greece with darkened hair and fake glasses.