Company Continues Efforts to Keep Costs
Manageable for Customers
READING,
Pa., April 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy
Pennsylvania (FE PA), a subsidiary
of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) doing business as Met-Ed, Penn
Power, Penelec and West Penn Power, will request today a review of
its base electric rates by the Pennsylvania Public Utility
Commission (PUC). The proposed rate adjustment builds on service
reliability enhancements made in recent years by upgrading
additional distribution grid equipment, providing ongoing tree
trimming with a focus on off-right-of-way trees and creating a
dedicated team to help low-income residential customers participate
in bill assistance programs.
The rate proposal is designed to benefit more than two million
customers by continuing FE PA's work
to reduce or minimize outages throughout its service territory and
enhancing key services. Highlights of the rate review proposal
include:
- Modernizing the grid with automated technologies that can
prevent or reduce the scope and duration of power outages.
- Increasing the frequency of inspections of overhead circuits
and transformers to identify and replace aging equipment.
- Converting about 85,000 company-owned streetlights to
energy-efficient LED streetlights that save electricity and
money.
- Removing more than 2.4 million trees and overhanging limbs that
pose a threat to damage poles and wires along 14,000 miles of line,
both on and around power line corridors, over the next 10 years to
help reduce tree-related electric service interruptions.
Off-right-of-way trees are responsible for more than 90% of
tree-caused service interruptions.
- Creating an Energy Assistance Outreach Team to increase
awareness and participation in energy assistance programs available
to low-income customers.
- Eliminating service fees for customers to pay their electric
bills by credit card; benchmarking and customer surveys found 45
percent of customers would pay by credit card if there were no
fees.
- Creating an electric vehicle (EV) pilot program to encourage
customers to purchase EVs by providing rebates for licensed
electricians to install home chargers and other incentives.
Scott Wyman, President of
FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania Operations: "Continued investments
in a smart, modern energy grid coupled with an expanded vegetation
management program that targets trees threatening our equipment
will help us deliver on our commitment to providing dependable
electricity to homes, businesses and communities. The work we are
doing makes a positive difference – installation of new equipment
coupled with proactive tree trimming has helped reduce the
frequency of electric service interruptions experienced by our
Pennsylvania customers by 14
percent since 2019. This rate proposal balances the need to invest
in the system while helping keep electric bills comparable to other
utilities in the state."
FE PA's rate request totals
$502 million across its four
Pennsylvania rate districts. If
approved, monthly bills would increase on average in the range of
$16.61 to $21.30 or about 9.2% to 11.8% for a typical
FE PA residential customer using
1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month. The average monthly bill for
FE PA customers would be in line
with the statewide average for typical customers served by the
other three major electric utilities in Pennsylvania.
FE PA last filed a Pennsylvania rate review in 2016 with rates
taking effect in January 2017.
Specific rate review impacts of the current filing are as
follows:
- Met-Ed has requested an increase of $146
million. If approved, the total bill for the typical
residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase 9.2%
or $17.31 for a new monthly total
bill of $205. The bill for a
commercial customer using 40 kilowatts (KW) for 250 hours would
increase 3.9% or $57.61 for a total
bill of $1,523.59. The bill for an
industrial customer using 20 megawatts (MW) for 474 hours would
increase by 0.5% or $4,958.02 for a
total bill of $922,490.44.
- Penelec has requested an increase of $132 million. If approved, the total bill for the
typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would
increase 9.8% or $19.79 for a new
monthly total bill of $220.75. The
bill for a commercial customer using 40 KW for 250 hours would
increase 4.4% or $66.52 for a total
bill of $1,576.49. The bill for an
industrial customer using 20 MW for 474 hours would increase by
1.8% or $9,806.10 for a total bill of
$558,069.72.
- Penn Power has requested an increase of $55 million. If approved, the total bill for the
typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would
increase 11.8% or $21.30 for a new
monthly total bill of $201.88. The
bill for a commercial customer using 40 KW for 250 hours would
increase 4.1% or $61.05 for a total
bill of $1,549.85. The bill for an
industrial customer using 20 MW for 474 hours would increase by
0.7% or $2,764.34 for a total bill of
$373,144.37.
- West Penn has requested an increase of $169 million. If approved, the total bill for the
typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would
increase 10.6% or $16.61 for a new
monthly total bill of $172.98. The
bill for a commercial customer using 40 KW for 250 hours would
increase 4.6% or $61.03 for a total
bill of $1,374.25. The bill for an
industrial customer using 20 MW for 474 hours would increase by
0.3% or $1,917.74 for a total bill of
$642,064.14.
Pending PUC approval, FE PA has
requested that the new rates take effect on June 1, 2024. For more information about the
proposed rate plan, customers may call the company at
1-800-545-7741.
Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power continue efforts
to keep costs manageable for customers. To help customers manage
their bills, average payment plans, special payment plans and
access to energy assistance programs are offered. For more
information, please visit www.firstenergycorp.com/billassist. To
learn more about energy efficiency products and programs to help
save money, visit www.energysavepa.com.
The public is invited to comment on the filing through the PUC's
public comment process and FE PA
will participate in public meetings about the plan and engage key
stakeholders to ensure an open and thorough review of the
proposal.
Met-Ed serves approximately 592,000 customers within 3,300
square miles of eastern and southeastern Pennsylvania. Follow Met-Ed on X, formerly
known as Twitter, @Met Ed and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.
Penelec serves approximately 597,000 customers within 17,600
square miles of northern and central Pennsylvania and western New York. Follow Penelec on X
@Penelec and on Facebook at facebook.com/PenelecElectric.
Penn Power serves approximately 173,000 customers in all or
parts of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Lawrence and Mercer counties in western Pennsylvania. Follow Penn Power on X
@Penn_Power, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennPower, and online
at www.pennpower.com.
West Penn Power serves approximately 746,000 customers in 24
counties within central and southwestern Pennsylvania. Follow West Penn on X
@W_Penn_Power and on Facebook at
facebook.com/WestPennPower.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its electric distribution companies form
one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving customers in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West
Virginia, Maryland and
New York. The company's
transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at
www.firstenergycorp.com and on X @FirstEnergyCorp.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on information
currently available to management. Such statements are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These
statements include declarations regarding management's intents,
beliefs and current expectations. These statements typically
contain, but are not limited to, the terms "anticipate,"
"potential," "expect," "forecast," "target," "will," "intend,"
"believe," "project," "estimate," "plan" and similar words.
Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions, known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, which may
include the following: the potential liabilities, increased costs
and unanticipated developments resulting from government
investigations and agreements, including those associated with
compliance with or failure to comply with the Deferred Prosecution
Agreement entered into July 21, 2021
with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
Ohio; the risks and uncertainties
associated with government investigations and audits regarding Ohio
House Bill 6, as passed by Ohio's
133rd General Assembly ("HB 6") and related matters, including
potential adverse impacts on federal or state regulatory matters,
including, but not limited to, matters relating to rates; the risks
and uncertainties associated with litigation, arbitration,
mediation, and similar proceedings, particularly regarding HB 6
related matters, including risks associated with obtaining
dismissal of the derivative shareholder lawsuits; changes in
national and regional economic conditions, including recession,
rising interest rates, inflationary pressure, supply chain
disruptions, higher energy costs, and workforce impacts, affecting
us and/or our customers and those vendors with which we do
business; weather conditions, such as temperature variations and
severe weather conditions, or other natural disasters affecting
future operating results and associated regulatory actions or
outcomes in response to such conditions; legislative and regulatory
developments, including, but not limited to, matters related to
rates, compliance and enforcement activity, cyber security, and
climate change; the risks associated with physical attacks, such as
acts of war, terrorism, sabotage or other acts of violence, and
cyber-attacks and other disruptions to our, or our vendors',
information technology system, which may compromise our operations,
and data security breaches of sensitive data, intellectual property
and proprietary or personally identifiable information; the ability
to meet our goals relating to employee, environmental, social and
corporate governance opportunities, improvements, and efficiencies,
including our greenhouse gas ("GHG") reduction goals; the ability
to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits through establishing
a culture of continuous improvement and our other strategic and
financial goals, including, but not limited to, overcoming current
uncertainties and challenges associated with the ongoing government
investigations, executing our Energize 365 transmission and
distribution investment plan, executing on our rate filing
strategy, controlling costs, improving our credit metrics, growing
earnings and strengthening our balance sheet; changing market
conditions affecting the measurement of certain liabilities and the
value of assets held in our pension trusts may negatively impact
our forecasted growth rate, results of operations, and may also
cause us to make contributions to our pension sooner or in amounts
that are larger than currently anticipated; mitigating exposure for
remedial activities associated with retired and formerly owned
electric generation assets; changes to environmental laws and
regulations, including but not limited to those related to climate
change; changes in customers' demand for power, including but not
limited to, economic conditions, the impact of climate change,
emerging technology, particularly with respect to electrification,
energy storage and distributed sources of generation; the
ability to access the public securities and other capital and
credit markets in accordance with our financial plans, the cost of
such capital and overall condition of the capital and credit
markets affecting us, including the increasing number of financial
institutions evaluating the impact of climate change on their
investment decisions; future actions taken by credit rating
agencies that could negatively affect either our access to or terms
of financing or our financial condition and liquidity; changes in
assumptions regarding factors such as economic conditions within
our territories, the reliability of our transmission and
distribution system, or the availability of capital or other
resources supporting identified transmission and distribution
investment opportunities; the potential of non-compliance with debt
covenants in our credit facilities; the ability to comply with
applicable reliability standards and energy efficiency and peak
demand reduction mandates; human capital management challenges,
including among other things, attracting and retaining
appropriately trained and qualified employees and labor disruptions
by our unionized workforce; changes to significant accounting
policies; any changes in tax laws or regulations, including, but
not limited to, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or adverse tax
audit results or rulings; and the risks and other factors discussed
from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")
filings. Dividends declared from time to time on FirstEnergy
Corp.'s common stock during any period may in the aggregate vary
from prior periods due to circumstances considered by FirstEnergy
Corp.'s Board of Directors at the time of the actual declarations.
A security rating is not a recommendation to buy or hold securities
and is subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the
assigning rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated
independently of any other rating. These forward-looking statements
are also qualified by, and should be read together with, the risk
factors included in FirstEnergy Corp.'s (a) Item 1A. Risk Factors,
(b) Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations, and (c) other factors
discussed herein and in FirstEnergy's other filings with the SEC.
The foregoing review of factors also should not be construed as
exhaustive. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not
possible for management to predict all such factors, nor assess the
impact of any such factor on FirstEnergy Corp.'s business or the
extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause
results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statements. FirstEnergy Corp. expressly disclaims
any obligation to update or revise, except as required by law, any
forward-looking statements contained herein or in the information
incorporated by reference as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.