CHARLESTON — In an order filed March 2, the West Virginia Public Service Commission is seeking information on the lobbying activities of a power company at the center of a bribery scandal in Ohio.

The commission is seeking a focused management audit of Monongahela Power Co. and Potomac Edison Co. Both companies are subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp., headquartered in Akron.

According to the PSC, Mon Power and Potomac Edison intend to file a base rate case in April. Part of the audit will be focused on whether FirstEnergy has tried to charge Mon Power and Potomac Edison ratepayers for lobbying and promotion expenses as part of base rate increase requests.

The PSC is allowed to ensure that expenses passed on to ratepayers do not include unreasonable expenses or inappropriate expenses. The focused management audit will also review Mon Power and Potomac Edison’s expenses included in expanded net energy costs cost recovery proceedings covering this year and going back to 2018, and could also go back further if the PSC deems it necessary.

“In conjunction with the base rate case to be filed by the companies, the Commission expects an in-depth review of costs incurred by the companies for certain civic, political, and related activities,” the PSC wrote in its order. “Expenses included…are sometimes referred to as lobbying expenses and image building expenses.”

“We believe that a focused audit is the best way to review the companies’ adherence to accounting for direct and indirect lobbying and image building expenses…and to ensure that the cost of such activities is not included in operating expense accounts, plant accounts, or other accounts that are normally considered in determining ratemaking revenue requirements,” the order continued.

According to the order, the audit is due in part because of a scandal in Ohio that has played out over the last three years involving FirstEnergy. Former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and Matt Borges, the former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, were found guilty at the beginning of March for their part in a bribery and racketeering scheme.

According to court documents, company A, identified as FirstEnergy, is accused of spending more than $60 million between 2018 and 2020. The money was funneled through Generation Now, a non-profit controlled by Householder and others. The funds were allegedly used to help Householder become House speaker. Later, funds from the non-profit were used to bribe ballot initiative signature collectors to stop collecting signatures to reverse House Bill 6, a bill that charges Ohio ratepayers to keep the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants operating.

A jury convicted Householder and Borges of participating in a racketeering conspiracy. The two could face up to 20 years in prison each, with sentencing to be determined. Two other conspirators, political strategist Jeffrey Longstreth and lobbyist Juan Cespedes, previously pleaded guilty for participating in the conspiracy. In lieu of prosecution, FirstEnergy agreed to a settlement and $230 million penalty.

The PSC left it up to Mon Power and Potomac Edison to submit requests for proposals for auditing firms to conduct the audit, but the PSC will review submitted RFPs and choose an auditing firm and direct the companies to contract for the audit. The audit would also be supervised by PSC staff.