Plant Now Expected to be Complete by 2012 AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 3
AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE)
has revised its construction schedule for the Fremont Energy Center to better
reflect current and projected power supply needs. Under the revised schedule,
construction will continue until 2012, when the plant will be brought on line.
Original plans called for completion of the plant by 2010.
"We remain committed to completing the Fremont Energy Center, but have
revised the timing as a result of changing power market conditions," said Gary
R. Leidich, executive vice president of FirstEnergy and president of its
FirstEnergy Generation Corp. subsidiary. "Like most companies today, we are
allocating our capital expenditures where they are most needed. This is a
strategic decision to help ensure that we are appropriately prioritizing our
work across all our operations."
The partially complete Fremont Energy Center, in Fremont, Ohio, was
purchased by the company from Calpine Corporation in January 2008 in that
company's bankruptcy proceeding. It includes two natural gas combined-cycle
combustion turbines and a steam turbine capable of producing 544 megawatts
(MW) of load-following capacity and 163 MW of peaking capacity.
"The plant continues to be an important part of our future generation
plans because of its size, location in our service area and low-emitting
characteristics," Mr. Leidich said. "We look forward to completing the plant
under the new schedule."
As previously reported, the company expects to spend $41 million on
completion of the Fremont Energy Center in 2008, with the remaining costs now
to be spread over the next three years. The original estimate of $208 million
to complete the plant may be revised as a result of the new construction
schedule.
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. Its seven electric utility operating companies
comprise the nation's fifth largest investor-owned electric system, based on
4.5 million customers served within a 36,100-square-mile area of Ohio,
Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and its generation subsidiaries control more than
14,000 megawatts of capacity.
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 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 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, the impact of the PUCO's rulemaking process on the Ohio
Companies' Electric Security Plan and Market Rate Offer filings, economic or
weather conditions affecting future sales and margins, changes in markets for
energy services, changing energy and commodity market prices and availability,
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, revised environmental requirements, including possible
greenhouse gas emission regulations, the impact of the U.S. Court of Appeals'
July 11, 2008 decision to vacate the CAIR rules and the scope of any laws,
rules or regulations that may ultimately take their place, 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), the timing and outcome of various proceedings before the PUCO
(including, but not limited to, the Electric Security Plan and Market Rate
Offer proceedings as well as 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 Ohio Supreme Court regarding the Rate
Stabilization Plan and the Rate Certainty Plan, including the recovery of
deferred fuel costs), Met-Ed's and Penelec's transmission service charge
filings with the PPUC (as well as 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 operate at or near full capacity, the
ability to comply with applicable state and federal reliability standards, the
ability 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
changing market conditions that could affect the value of assets held in the
registrant's nuclear decommissioning trusts, pension trusts and other trust
funds, and cause FirstEnergy to make additional contributions sooner, or in an
amount that is larger than currently anticipated, the ability to access the
public securities and other capital and credit markets in accordance with
FirstEnergy's financing plan and the cost of such capital, changes in general
economic conditions affecting FirstEnergy, the state of the capital and credit
markets affecting FirstEnergy, and the risks and other factors discussed from
time to time in its 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 management to predict all such
factors, nor 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.
FirstEnergy expressly disclaims any current intention to update any forward-
looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future
events, or otherwise.
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.
