Akron's Energy Harbor sold to Texas company during Ohio corruption trial

Energy Harbor, the Akron-based FirstEnergy spinoff company at the heart of an ongoing public corruption trial in Ohio, has been sold to a Texas energy company called Vistra.

Vistra announced the $3.43 billion merger deal Monday, underscoring a push by U.S. utilities to shift to clean energy, Reuters reported. Energy Harbor owns the Perry and Oak Harbor nuclear power plants, which are on the Lake Erie shore.

What this means for Akron was not immediately clear. Energy Harbor is headquartered on East Market Street across from the Haven of Rest homeless shelter. The headquarters of the merged company will be in Irving, Texas, but it will have retail offices in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

"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," Vistra President and CEO Jim Burke said in a statement.

Energy Harbor on Monday had not issued a statement of its own, and a spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Ohio corruption scandal:What you need to know about Ohio's corruption scandal, Larry Householder trial

The deal comes at an extraordinary moment, with a jury in Cincinnati federal court about to decide whether the state's former House Speaker Larry Householder received $61 million in bribes pumped through dark money groups by FirstEnergy and Energy Harbor in exchange for a $1 billion bailout bill.

No one from Energy Harbor has been indicted in the case, the largest in Ohio's history.

But during Householder's trial, Energy Harbor Excecutive Chairman John Kiani has repeatedly come up during testimony and in evidence, including text messages.

Kiani, a hedge fund manager, had a long career as an energy analyst before taking over Energy Harbor in 2019. The company, formerly called FirstEnergy Solutions, split off from parent company FirstEnergy Corp. when it emerged from bankruptcy the same year.

Former FirstEnergy Solutions lobbyist Juan Cespedes testified that Kiani planned to operate Energy Harbor's nuclear plants for a short period, get a government bailout and then sell the power plants in a deal that could make Kiani $100 million.

According to evidence presented during Householder's trial, Kiani was deeply involved in getting lawmakers to pass the bailout and then afterward, when a group of taxpayers tried to have it overturned.

It was not immediately clear whether Kiani will benefit from the merger with Vistra.

The deal involves $3 billion in cash and Energy Harbor shareholders getting a 15% stake in a newly formed subsidiary holding company called Vistra Vision.

Kiani was listed as Energy Harbor's executive chairman Monday on the company's website. John W. Judge was listed as president and CEO of the company.

Energy Harbor's senior leadership is expected to remain with that company through at least the closing of the merger transaction, according to a statement from Vistra.

In 2021, FirstEnergy signed a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors and agreed to pay a $230 million penalty for its role in the case. It has since cooperated with the investigation and fired some leaders, including former CEO Chuck Jones.

The company has also conceded in court papers to bribing state officials.

Jones has denied that he or anyone else at the company did anything unlawful.

"Whether one agrees with it or not, the First Amendment and campaign finance laws allow the use of 501(c)(4) entities for appropriate political activity; allow individuals and corporations to support political candidates in a lawful manner; and allow individuals and corporations to lobby on behalf of legislation and government policies," he said in a statement released after the deferred prosecution agreement.

Federal prosecutors have not said whether Jones or Kiani could face charges.

Some outside observers familar with federal corruption cases say proseuctors often break complicated cases with multiple defendents into different chapters. Jurors can easily be confused by multiple defendants with multiple attorneys, said Michael J. Clark, a former FBI agent who now teaches at the University of New Haven.

He doesn't know if a second prosecution chapter will follow Householder's trial.

But if Householder is convicted, Clark said, other defendants may be anxious to cut a deal.

"It's like the people in (the next chapter) see the turret of a tank pivot and take aim at them," Clark said. "They usually collapse."

Laura A. Bischoff contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Energy Harbor nuclear power plants sold to Texas company Vistra