Bribery Scandals Taint Efforts to Save U.S. Nuclear Plants (1)

Back-to-back bribery scandals involving utility giants in Ohio and Illinois over the last five days have given a black eye to efforts to prop up struggling U.S. nuclear plants.

On Tuesday, federal officials arrested the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives on racketeering charges tied to a bailout of two nuclear plants owned by Energy Harbor Corp., a former FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary. Four days earlier, Exelon Corp.’s Commonwealth Edison unit agreed to pay $200 million to resolve a lobbying probe in Illinois, where nuclear plants also receive aid.

The fallout in Ohio has been swift, with Democratic and ...