Settlement Reached in FirstEnergy Pennsylvania’s Rate Review that Supports Enhanced Service Reliability and Customer Assistance Programs

Comprehensive Agreement Designed to Keep Costs Manageable for Customers

READING, Pa., Sept. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: NYSE:) doing business as Met-Ed, Penn Power, Penelec and West Penn Power, has reached a settlement in its base rate review, subject to the approval of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PaPUC). The $225 million settlement expands bill assistance for low-income residential customers and enables the company’s electric grid investments that support safe and reliable electric service for its Pennsylvania customers.

The settlement balances the interests of all parties to the settlement, who include the Office of the Consumer Advocate, the Office of the Small Business Advocate, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, the Coalition for Affordable Utility Services and Energy Efficiency in Pennsylvania, the Met-Ed Industrial Users Group, Penelec Industrial Customer Alliance, the West Penn Power Industrial Intervenors, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 459, the Local Union 777 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, the UWUA System Local 102, Walmart (NYSE:), Inc. and the Pennsylvania State University.

John Hawkins (NASDAQ:), FirstEnergy’s President of Pennsylvania: “This settlement will amplify our efforts to connect our lower-income customers with a wide variety of bill assistance programs while also making meaningful upgrades to our electric system to enhance reliability for customers. We appreciate the broad set of stakeholders who participated in open and transparent settlement discussions that resulted in an agreement that balances all interests in our rates proceeding.”

The settlement includes investments focused on strengthening the energy grid, enhancing the customer experience and managing bill costs. They include:

• Increasing vegetation management investments to enhance tree trimming and other related work around company power lines to enhance electric service reliability.
• Supporting investments in the electric grid through the Long-Term Infrastructure Improvement Plan III (LTIIP III) to enhance the reliability of power lines and substations.
• Identifying opportunities to selectively place distribution facilities underground to help enhance electric service reliability.
• Allowing the company to continue recovering expenses incurred when restoring…