Utility CEO pay surges amid higher profits, customer struggles
April 21, 2026
Utilities saw poor customer outcomes, lowered standards as they gave CEOs raises
FirstEnergy
FirstEnergy is an investor-owned monopoly utility company that serves over 6 millions customers in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions through its subsidiaries Ohio Edison, Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Jersey City Power & Light, Mon Power, and Potomac Edison. FirstEnergy is the center of ongoing state and federal criminal investigations in Ohio, in which the utility has admitted that it secretly paid millions of dollars in bribes to the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Featured Articles
Utilities lobby for re-regulation across PJM: Timeline tracks private meetings, legislation, advertising
March 31, 2026
Over the past two years, electric distribution utility companies operating in the PJM Interconnection region have mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign, urging lawmakers to allow them to own and build power plants once again. As part of this effort, utilities – including Exelon, FirstEnergy, and PPL Electric – have held extensive private meetings with officials,...
PUCO stops FirstEnergy from making Ohio customers pay $108 million for a corporate accounting foul-up flagged by regulatory audits
November 7, 2025
November 20, 2024 update: FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities will not be allowed to recover $108 million in misclassified corporate overhead costs flagged repeatedly in regulatory audits through the new rates approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in an order yesterday. A spokesperson for the PUCO confirmed that the order affirmed an auditor’s recommendation to...
Utility-funded Republican and Democratic groups try to leverage rising utility bills in New Jersey’s race for governor
October 20, 2025
Updated on October 30, 2025, with additional utility funding for the Democratic Governors Association Investor-owned utilities and utility industry groups have made over $2.6 million in cash and in-kind contributions this year to the Republican Governors Association and Democratic Governors Association, amid an election cycle where both groups have tried to make political hay out...
Reports
Utility Industry Contributions to Section 527 Political Organizations
March 28, 2025
Electric utilities falling behind on emission reduction targets
March 17, 2025
Power Trip: How utilities use customer money to fund lobbying, corporate branding, and luxury lifestyle expenses
December 11, 2024
Duke Energy Knew
November 21, 2024
Fueling the Opposition: How fossil fuel interests are fighting to kill wind and solar farms before they are built
August 5, 2024
Powerless in the United States: the third installment in the Powerless in the Pandemic series
January 30, 2023
Getting Politics Out of Utility Bills
January 26, 2023
Petition for FTC Investigation of Electric Utility Abuses
May 18, 2022
Many U.S. electric utilities plan slow decarbonization over next decade, out of sync with Biden plan
December 1, 2020
Pollution Payday: Analysis of executive compensation and incentives of the largest U.S. investor-owned utilities
September 23, 2020
Strings Attached: How utilities use charitable giving to influence politics and increase investor profits
December 10, 2019
Utility Carbon Targets Reflect Decarbonization Slowdown In Crucial Next Decade
June 26, 2019
Utilities Knew: Documenting Electric Utilities’ Early Knowledge and Ongoing Deception on Climate Change From 1968-2017
July 25, 2017
Paying for Utility Politics: How ratepayers are forced to fund the Edison Electric Institute and other political organizations
May 9, 2017