IRVING, Texas — Energy Harbor, the former FirstEnergy subsidiary at the center of what has become Ohio's largest political corruption scandal, has been purchased by an electricity company based out of Texas.
In a press release issued Monday morning, Vistra Corp. confirmed its intention to buy the Akron-based nuclear power provider for more than $3 billion and create a subsidiary of its own known as "Vistra Vision." In addition, the corporation will assume roughly $430 million in debt and offer a 15% ownership stake in Vistra Vision to Energy Harbor's two largest shareholders: Avenue Capital Group and Nuveen.
Through the purchase, Vistra says it hopes to create a "zero-carbon generation company with the second-largest competitive nuclear fleet in the country," including the nuclear plant located in Lake County. President and CEO Jim Burke released a statement saying, in part:
"We are excited to announce this unique combination and the many benefits it brings to our key stakeholders – customers, employees, communities, and shareholders. Vistra has been focused on responsibly transitioning our power generation profile, and though we've made significant progress over the past several years, there are few opportunities to grow a reliable and dispatchable zero-carbon generation portfolio at scale this quickly. As our country navigates a massive energy transition to cleaner sources of electricity, nuclear energy provides the unique capability of being both carbon-free and a dependable, always-on source of reliable power. With the enactment of the zero-emission nuclear production tax credit (I.R.C. Sec. 45U), nuclear power generation now has down-side protection against lower power prices, resulting in tremendous upside opportunity compared to other generation with similar attributes."
Energy Harbor was originally known as FirstEnergy Solutions when it filed for bankruptcy in 2018, putting Ohio's only two nuclear plants in Perry and Oak Harbor at risk of closing permanently. Under this cloud of uncertainty, the Ohio General Assembly passed and Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 6, which gave the facilities a $1 billion bailout and helped FirstEnergy Solutions emerge from its poor financial position. The subsidiary eventually became an independent company with its current name.
However, that deal all came crashing down in July of 2020, when then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four others were arrested on accusations of taking part in a massive bribery scheme to get HB 6 passed and prevent voters from potentially putting it on the ballot. FirstEnergy later admitted to its role in the corruption and fired six top executives including CEO Chuck Jones, while the state eliminated surcharges for taxpayers in a partial repeal of the legislation.
Energy Harbor later joined with FirstEnergy to settle a lawsuit for $49 million in connection with the scandal, but the former subsidiary has largely stayed out of the spotlight since. John W. Judge remains its president and CEO, and the company's stock price has risen from a low of less than $20 per share immediately after the arrests to an all-time high of $83.99 today.
Two defendants have since pleaded guilty to their roles in the bribery scheme along with a former dark money group, while a third died by suicide. Householder, who was expelled from the Statehouse, is currently on trial in federal court along with former Ohio Republican Party Chair Matt Borges. Both have denied any wrongdoing but face up to 20 years in prison each, if convicted.
Besides the plants in Perry and Oak Harbor, Energy Harbor also owns a power station in Western Pennsylvania along the Ohio River. Per Vistra, the company currently serves around one million customers.
Burke continued:
"We look forward to welcoming the Energy Harbor generation and retail teams in Ohio and Pennsylvania to Vistra. We focus on being a preferred place to work and a core member of the communities where our plants, retail offices, and customers are located, which will soon include Akron among other locations in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Our purpose at Vistra, 'Lighting up lives, powering a better way forward,' will be greatly reinforced with this exciting opportunity. I want to thank Energy Harbor for their confidence in our team at Vistra."