FirstEnergy Corp. News
FirstEnergy Promotes Executives to Lead Competitive and Regulated Businesses
AKRON, Ohio, Feb. 19 PRNewswire-FirstCall — FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Gary R. Leidich executive vice president and president of FirstEnergy Generation, and Richard R. Grigg executive vice president and president of FirstEnergy Utilities. The promotions will be effective March 2, 2008.
FirstEnergy President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony J. Alexander said, "We are fortunate to have two skilled, experienced and widely respected executives who are highly qualified to manage the next logical step in our evolution — from the legal separation of our competitive generation and regulated utility businesses that we completed in 2005, to our new structure, with independent leaders charged with maximizing the performance and value of their respective organizations.
"As we prepare for more competitive generation markets and for the need to address increasing customer demand for electricity and related services," Mr. Alexander added, "focusing the efforts and leadership of the company in these areas will help us grow our business and the value we represent to customers and shareholders."
Also effective March 2, 2008, the Board elected Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Operations, Mark T. Clark, executive vice president, Strategic Planning & Operations; and Senior Vice President and General Counsel Leila L. Vespoli, executive vice president and General Counsel. The Board also named Vice President, Corporate Group Administration, Thomas C. Navin, vice president, Investment Management; Vice President, Site Construction, Dennis J. Fuster, vice president, Project Construction; and Regional President of Pennsylvania Electric Company (Penelec) John E. Paganie, vice president, Energy Efficiency.
Mr. Leidich, who currently serves as senior vice president of Operations, will have responsibility for non-nuclear generation operations, all commodity sales and purchases, retail competition, generation and environmental construction projects, environmental compliance, and the development and expansion of FirstEnergy's generating fleet.
Mr. Leidich will lead FirstEnergy's power generation subsidiaries, which produce more than 80 million megawatt-hours (MWH) of electricity annually from the 14,272 megawatts (MW) of capacity they control. More than 700 megawatts of new capacity will be added through the recent purchase of the partially complete, Fremont combined-cycle natural gas power plant.
This plant, along with uprates at the company's existing plants, including its nuclear and coal units; natural gas peaking units; asset swap units; and contracts for renewable wind power, will bring the total of generating capacity additions to more than 2,300 MW since 1999. That's about the equivalent of the company's largest Ohio plant, W. H. Sammis — at no risk to customers of FirstEnergy's Ohio utilities.
Mr. Leidich also will be responsible for FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), the company's competitive subsidiary, which last year bought and sold 107 million MWH of electricity — making it one of the nation's largest power suppliers. FES is the largest competitive supplier of electricity to commercial and industrial customers in the Pittsburgh area, and has more than 200,000 residential customers in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Leidich said, "Fossil, nuclear, wind and other renewables, storage and emerging generating technologies all hold excellent potential as the primary platform for increasing shareholder value. I'm excited about the opportunity to grow our generation business and build a first-rate team for managing construction and development of our generating projects — with the timely completion of the combined-cycle natural gas plant we recently acquired as our launch point."
Mr. Grigg, who will have responsibility for energy delivery, customer services, and compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission transmission requirements, will lead FirstEnergy's seven regulated electric utility operating companies in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They comprise the nation's fifth largest investor-owned electric system, based on 4.5 million customers served.
He also will be responsible for managing the approximately $700 million spent annually to upgrade transmission and distribution infrastructure. These investments have been delivering strong results. For example, comparing 2007 to 2006, a quarter million fewer customers experienced an outage, and the duration for those who did dropped by an average of 21 minutes, or 14 percent.
Mr. Grigg said, "While I had fully intended to retire soon, I simply couldn't pass up this opportunity. I plan to focus on working with our talented leadership team to find new and cost-effective ways to enhance service reliability for our customers. And, I'm especially excited about building a new organization within energy delivery that will provide the focus and resources needed to enhance and further develop our energy-efficiency and demand-side management programs. This effort is consistent with our responsibilities for protecting the environment, and I believe that it can be accomplished in ways that will deliver even higher levels of value to our customers and shareholders."
Mr. Leidich began his career with The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) in 1974. Following the merger of Ohio Edison Company and CEI in 1997 that formed FirstEnergy, Mr. Leidich became executive vice president of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, and rejoined FirstEnergy in 2002. He was named president and chief nuclear officer of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company in 2003, and to his current position in 2007.
He earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and master of science degree in engineering science from The University of Toledo. Mr. Leidich served in various supervisory positions involving engineering, construction and operation at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant from 1975 to 1986. He became director of system planning for CEI's parent company in 1987, and director of Human Resources in 1991. He was elected vice president of Finance and Administration and chief financial officer in 1993, and president of the Power Generation group in 1995.
Mr. Leidich, a registered professional engineer in Ohio, serves on the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Research Institute and is a member of the American Nuclear Society and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Before joining FirstEnergy as executive vice president and chief operating officer in August 2004, Mr. Grigg had a distinguished, 34-year career at Wisconsin Energy Corporation (WEC), retiring as president and chief executive officer of WE Generation.
Mr. Grigg earned a bachelor of science and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He joined Wisconsin Electric Power in 1970, and served in a variety of management positions before being promoted to vice president of System Operations for Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) in 1990; vice president of Customer Operations in 1992; and group executive vice president of Customer Operations, Customer Services and Sales and Marketing in 1994. He became president and chief operating officer of WEPCO in 1995, and also served as chief nuclear officer from 1996 to 1998. He became senior vice president of WEC in 2000 and executive vice president in 2003. He was elected to WEPCO's Board of Directors in 1994 and to WEC's Board in 1995.
Mr. Grigg is president and on the Board of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. He is a member of the boards of the Electric Power Research Institute and the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation. A registered professional engineer in Ohio and Wisconsin, Mr. Grigg is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Nuclear Society.
Mr. Clark's areas of responsibility include Strategic Planning, Business Development, Business Performance, Rates & Regulatory Affairs, Information Technology, Supply Chain and Security. Mr. Clark joined Ohio Edison in 1976 and served in a number of marketing and corporate positions before being named assistant treasurer in 1980, treasurer in 1985, Springfield division manager in 1989, Marketing manager in 1994, managing director of Business Development for FirstEnergy in 1997, vice president of Business Development in 2000 and senior vice president of Business Development in 2001. Mr. Clark earned a bachelor of science degree from The Ohio State University and a master of business administration from The University of Akron.
Ms. Vespoli's responsibilities include all legal affairs for FirstEnergy. She also oversees Governmental Affairs, Communications, Corporate Affairs & Community Involvement, Real Estate, Corporate and Records Management. She joined Ohio Edison as an associate attorney in 1984, and was named attorney in 1985, senior attorney in 1995, and associate General Counsel for FirstEnergy in 1997. She was elected vice president and General Counsel in 2000 and senior vice president and General Counsel in 2001. Ms. Vespoli graduated from Miami University with a bachelor of science degree in business economics and earned a law degree from Case Western Reserve University.
Thomas C. Navin, who will report to Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Richard H. Marsh, will be responsible for managing FirstEnergy's $11-billion investment portfolio, including funds related to pensions, employee saving plans, nuclear decommissioning, non-qualified benefits and The FirstEnergy Foundation. He joined Ohio Edison in 1981, and held a variety of positions in the company's Finance group. In 1999, he was elected treasurer, and in 2005, vice president of Business Performance & Management. He was elected vice president, Corporate Group Administration, in 2007. Mr. Navin received a bachelor of science degree in industrial management and a master of business administration degree from The University of Akron.
Dennis J. Fuster, who will report to Mr. Leidich, will be responsible for construction of generation and environmental projects. He joined Ohio Edison in 1971 and served in a variety of engineering and construction positions before being named director of the Sammis Plant in 1998, director of Hydro Plants in 2001, director of Consolidated Hydro and Combustion Turbine Plants in 2004, and director of Air Quality Compliance later that year. He was named vice president of Site Construction in 2007. Mr. Fuster graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering.
John E. Paganie, who will report to Mr. Grigg, will be responsible for the development and implementation of customer programs that promote energy efficiency, conservation, demand-side management, and emerging technologies. He joined CEI in 1969, serving in a variety of engineering, personnel and energy delivery positions before being named vice president of FirstEnergy's Western Region-Ohio in 1997, and regional president of Penelec in 2001.
FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services.
Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements based on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. These statements include declarations regarding our, or our management's, intents, beliefs and current expectations. These statements typically contain, but are not limited to, the terms "anticipate," "potential," "expect," "believe," "estimate" and similar words. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially due to the speed and nature of increased competition in the electric utility industry and legislative and regulatory changes affecting how generation rates will be determined following the expiration of existing rate plans in Ohio and Pennsylvania, economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins, changes in markets for energy services, changing energy and commodity market prices, replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or inadequately hedged, the continued ability of FirstEnergy's regulated utilities to collect transition and other charges or to recover increased transmission costs, maintenance costs being higher than anticipated, other legislative and regulatory changes including revised environmental requirements, the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures needed to, among other things, implement the Air Quality Compliance Plan (including that such amounts could be higher than anticipated) or levels of emission reductions related to the Consent Decree resolving the New Source Review litigation or other potential regulatory initiatives, adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes (including, but not limited to, the revocation of necessary licenses or operating permits and oversight by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission including, but not limited to, the Demand for Information issued to FENOC on May 14, 2007) as disclosed in our SEC filings, the timing and outcome of various proceedings before the PUCO (including, but not limited to, the Distribution Rate Cases and the generation supply plan filing for the Ohio Companies and the successful resolution of the issues remanded to the PUCO by the Supreme Court of Ohio regarding the Rate Stabilization Plan and the Rate Certainty Plan, including the deferral of fuel costs) and the PPUC (including the resolution of the Petitions for Review filed with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania with respect to the transition rate plan for Met-Ed and Penelec), the continuing availability of generating units and their ability to continue to operate at or near full capacity, the ability to comply with applicable state and federal reliability standards, the inability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from strategic goals (including employee workforce initiatives), the ability to improve electric commodity margins and to experience growth in the distribution business, the ability to access the public securities and other capital markets and the cost of such capital, the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our SEC filings, and other similar factors. The foregoing review of factors should not be construed as exhaustive. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all such factors, nor can we assess the impact of any such factor on our 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. We expressly disclaim any current intention to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.
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