FirstEnergy Involved in Bribery Scheme to Pass $1B Nuke Bailout Law
We told you that the law passed in Ohio (House Bill 6) granting FirstEnergy (now called Energy Harbor) $1 billion in corporate welfare from ratepayers, destroying the fair playing field for natgas-fired electric plants in the bargain, stunk to high heaven. We told you that the entire thing was corrupt (see OH Nuclear Bailout Corruption: Gas Sacrificed for Nuke Investors). We didn’t realize just how right we were! Yesterday the Republican Speaker of the Ohio House, Larry Householder (along with several associates) was arrested on racketeering charges for taking $60 million in bribes from FirstEnergy for promoting and pushing (against the will of the people, we might add), HB 6. FirstEnergy has been served with a subpoena related to the case, although they have not (yet) been indicted. This is the largest bribery scheme in Ohio’s history!
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Last week MDN brought you details of the 
BJ Services, a pressure pumping (i.e. fracking) company, began life in the 1870s. BJ was purchased by, and merged into, Baker Hughes in 2009 for $5.5 billion. In November 2016, Baker Hughes along with financial partners Goldman Sachs and CSL Capital Management combined forces (and money) to turn the Baker Hughes BJ division back into a standalone company (see 
Pennsylvania’s hard-left Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, is doubling down on the fraudulent so-called grand jury report that bashes the state’s Marcellus Shale industry. Yesterday afternoon Shapiro spoke on a webinar sponsored by leftist fringe group PennEnvironment. Shapiro once again lied about fracking chemical transparency and threatened he will indict more shale companies. Shapiro is off the reservation and out of control.
A number of far-left anti-fossil fuel (nutty) organizations aren’t getting any traction. Nobody listens to them. So they’ve banded together to form a new umbrella organization called ReImagine Appalachia. In other words, they’ve put lipstick on an anti-fossil fuel pig, hoping they can now, finally, get someone to pay attention to them. Ain’t gonna happen.
There were 27 (!) new permits issued in Pennsylvania for shale drilling July 13-17. There were, once again, no new permits issued in Ohio. What’s up in Ohio? Is nobody filing new permit requests? Or does the ODNR have a backlog of unprocessed requests? There were 7 new permits issued in West Virginia for shale drilling last week. In PA, new permits were issued in Armstrong, Bradford, Greene, Lycoming, Susquehanna, and Westmoreland Counties. In WV all 7 permits were issued for the same well pad in Wetzel County.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Grand jury report on fracking will not help Pennsylvanians; Toomey and Heidelbaugh sign pro-natural gas group pledge; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: AG rejects Brookline’s ban on oil, gas pipes in new buildings; NATIONAL: Joe Biden’s climate and energy plan is a gift for China; Joe Biden’s carbon tax will cost uou $5.31/Mcf for natural gas; The new oil and gas governance.