FirstEnergy
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FirstEnergy provides power, natural gas and services to parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Akron, Ohio, it serves 4.4 million customers. FirstEnergy's electric utility customers are served through seven operating companites: Cleveland Electric Illuminating, Jersey Central Power and Light, Metropolitan Edison, Ohio Edison, Pennsylvania Electric Company ("Penelec"), Penn Power, and Toledo Edison.
FirstEnergy was formed by the merger of Ohio Edison and Centerior Energy (parent of Cleveland electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison) in 1997. In 2001, FirstEnergy acquired GPU, Inc.
FirstEnergy's electric generation is primarily from coal and nuclear power plants. The system also includes natural gas, oil, and hydroelectric plants. FirstEnergy operates the Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse, and Perry nuclear power plants.
A string of coincidental accidents and mistakes at FirstEnergy are thought to have caused the 2003 North America blackout.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted on January 16, 2004 to investigate Metropolitan Edison, Pennsylvania Electric and Pennsylvania Power, all owned by FirstEnergy, because their service reliability "may have fallen below established standards."
On Friday, January 20, 2006, the owner of Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ohio FirstEnergy Corporation of Akron, OH, acknowledged a cover-up of serious safety violations by former workers, and accepted a plea bargain with the US Department of Justice in lieu of possible federal criminal prosecution. The plea bargain relates to the March 2002 discovery of severe corrosion in the containment building of the reactor (see below under "Incident History"). In the agreement, the company agreed to pay fines of $23 million, with an additional $5 million to be contributed toward research on alternative energy sources and to Habitat for Humanity as well as to pay for costs related to the federal investigation. In addition, two former employees and one former contractor were indicted for purposely deceiving Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspectors in multiple documents, including one video-tape, over several years, hiding evidence that the reactor containment building was was being seriously eaten into by acid. The maximum penalty for the three is 25 years in prison. The indictment names other employees as providing false information to inspectors as well, but does not name them.
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