Gov. Justice objects to call to investigate FirstEnergy lobbying for 2019 power plant tax breaks

Gov. Jim Justice blew up Wednesday over a call to investigate lobbying efforts by FirstEnergy Corp. that resulted in July 2019 special session legislation giving a $12.5 million a year tax break to the company’s Pleasants Power Station.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Salango called for the investigation Wednesday in light of Tuesday’s arrest of Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder for allegedly accepting $60 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy operatives to push through legislation providing $1.3 billion in tax breaks to it and two other energy companies.

“The way FirstEnergy has conducted business with elected officials in our neighboring state of Ohio begs questions about their dealings with Gov. Justice and the state of West Virginia,” Salango said in a release Wednesday. “This absolutely warrants more information from Justice.”

Federal Election Commission records show FirstEnergy made campaign contributions to Justice and a number of state legislators in the spring and summer of 2019, leading up to the July special session, in which the Pleasants County power plant tax break was a last-minute addition to Justice’s special session call.

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