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FE
FirstEnergy Corp

5/18/2013, 7:56 PM ET
Quote & Headlines Market Currents StockTalk Description
Sector: Utilities
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Industry: Electric Utilities
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Country: United States

Proposed Merger with Allegheny Energy, Inc.

On February 10, 2010, FirstEnergy entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (Merger Agreement) with Element Merger Sub, Inc., a Maryland corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary (Merger Sub) and Allegheny Energy, Inc., a Maryland corporation (Allegheny). Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will merge with and into Allegheny with Allegheny continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of FirstEnergy. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, upon the closing of the merger, each issued and outstanding share of Allegheny common stock, including grants of restricted common stock, will automatically be converted into the right to receive 0.667 of a share of common stock of FirstEnergy. Completion of the merger is conditioned upon, among other things, shareholder approval of both companies as well as expiration or termination of any applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and approval by the FERC, the Maryland Public Service Commission, PPUC, the Virginia State Corporation Commission and the West Virginia Public Service Commission. FirstEnergy anticipates that the necessary approvals will be obtained within 12 to 14 months. The Merger Agreement contains certain termination rights for both FirstEnergy and Allegheny, and further provides for the payment of fees and expenses upon termination under specified circumstances. Further information concerning the proposed merger will be included in a joint proxy statement/prospectus contained in the registration statement on Form S-4 to be filed by FirstEnergy with the SEC in connection with the merger. See Note 21 to the consolidated financial statements.

The Company

FirstEnergy Corp. was organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1996. FirstEnergy’s principal business is the holding, directly or indirectly, of all of the outstanding common stock of its eight principal electric utility operating subsidiaries: OE, CEI, TE, Penn, ATSI, JCP&L, Met-Ed and Penelec; and of its generating and marketing subsidiary, FES. FirstEnergy’s consolidated revenues are primarily derived from electric service provided by its utility operating subsidiaries and the revenues of its other principal subsidiary, FES. In addition, FirstEnergy holds all of the outstanding common stock of other direct subsidiaries including: FirstEnergy Properties, Inc., FEV, FENOC, FELHC, Inc., FirstEnergy Facilities Services Group, LLC, FirstEnergy Fiber Holdings Corp., GPU Power, Inc., GPU Nuclear, Inc., MARBEL Energy Corporation, and FESC.

FES was organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1997. FES provides energy-related products and services to wholesale and retail customers in the MISO and PJM markets. FES also owns and operates, through its subsidiary, FGCO, FirstEnergy’s fossil and hydroelectric generating facilities and owns, through its subsidiary, NGC, FirstEnergy’s nuclear generating facilities. FENOC, a separate subsidiary of FirstEnergy, organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1998, operates and maintains NGC’s nuclear generating facilities. FES purchases the entire output of the generation facilities owned by FGCO and NGC, as well as the output relating to leasehold interests of the Ohio Companies in certain of those facilities that are subject to sale and leaseback arrangements with non-affiliates, pursuant to full output, cost-of-service PSAs.

FirstEnergy’s generating portfolio includes 13,970 MW of diversified capacity (FES – 13,770 MW and JCP&L – 200 MW). Within FES’ portfolio, approximately 7,469 MW, or 54.2%, consists of coal-fired capacity; 3,991 MW, or 29.0%, consists of nuclear capacity; 1,599 MW, or 11.6%, consists of oil and natural gas peaking units; 451 MW, or 3.3%, consists of hydroelectric capacity; and 260 MW, or 1.9%, consists of capacity from FGCO’s current 11.5% entitlement to the generation output owned by the OVEC. FirstEnergy’s nuclear and non-nuclear facilities are operated by FENOC and FGCO, respectively, and, except for portions of certain facilities that are subject to the sale and leaseback arrangements with non-affiliates referred to above for which the corresponding output is available to FES through power sale agreements, are all owned directly by NGC and FGCO, respectively. The FES generating assets are concentrated primarily in Ohio, plus the bordering regions of Pennsylvania and Michigan. All FES units are dedicated to MISO except the Beaver Valley Power Station, which is designated as a PJM resource. Additionally, see FERC Matters for RTO Consolidation.

FES, FGCO and NGC comply with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the SEC and the FERC. In addition, NGC and FENOC comply with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the NRC.

The Utilities’ combined service areas encompass approximately 36,100 square miles in Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The areas they serve have a combined population of approximately 11.3 million.

OE was organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1930 and owns property and does business as an electric public utility in that state. OE engages in the distribution and sale of electric energy to communities in a 7,000 square mile area of central and northeastern Ohio. The area it serves has a population of approximately 2.8 million. OE complies with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the SEC, FERC and PUCO.

OE owns all of Penn’s outstanding common stock. Penn was organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1930 and owns property and does business as an electric public utility in that state. Penn is also authorized to do business in the State of Ohio (see Item 2 – Properties). Penn furnishes electric service to communities in 1,100 square miles of western Pennsylvania. The area it serves has a population of approximately 0.4 million. Penn complies with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the FERC and PPUC.

CEI was organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1892 and does business as an electric public utility in that state. CEI engages in the distribution and sale of electric energy in an area of approximately 1,600 square miles in northeastern Ohio. The area it serves has a population of approximately 1.8 million. CEI complies with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the SEC, FERC and PUCO.

TE was organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1901 and does business as an electric public utility in that state. TE engages in the distribution and sale of electric energy in an area of approximately 2,300 square miles in northwestern Ohio. The area it serves has a population of approximately 0.8 million. TE complies with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the SEC, FERC and PUCO.

ATSI was organized under the laws of the State of Ohio in 1998. ATSI owns transmission assets that were formerly owned by the Ohio Companies and Penn. ATSI owns major, high-voltage transmission facilities, which consist of approximately 5,821 pole miles of transmission lines with nominal voltages of 345 kV, 138 kV and 69 kV. Effective October 1, 2003, ATSI transferred operational control of its transmission facilities to MISO. With its affiliation with MISO, ATSI plans, operates, and maintains its transmission system in accordance with NERC reliability standards, and applicable regulatory agencies to ensure reliable service to customers. Additionally, see FERC Matters for RTO Consolidation.

JCP&L was organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey in 1925 and owns property and does business as an electric public utility in that state. JCP&L provides transmission and distribution services in 3,200 square miles of northern, western and east central New Jersey. The area it serves has a population of approximately 2.6 million. JCP&L complies with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the SEC, FERC and the NJBPU.

Met-Ed was organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1922 and owns property and does business as an electric public utility in that state. Met-Ed provides transmission and distribution services in 3,300 square miles of eastern and south central Pennsylvania. The area it serves has a population of approximately 1.3 million. Met-Ed complies with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the SEC, FERC and PPUC.

Penelec was organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1919 and owns property and does business as an electric public utility in that state. Penelec provides transmission and distribution services in 17,600 square miles of western, northern and south central Pennsylvania. The area it serves has a population of approximately 1.6 million. Penelec, as lessee of the property of its subsidiary, The Waverly Electric Light & Power Company, also serves customers in Waverly, New York and its vicinity. Penelec complies with the regulations, orders, policies and practices prescribed by the SEC, FERC and PPUC.

FESC provides legal, financial and other corporate support services to affiliated FirstEnergy companies.