FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Will File Rate Review to Support Continued Service Reliability Enhancements for Customers

Company Continues Efforts to Keep Costs Manageable for Customers  

READING, Pa., April 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Pennsylvania (FE PA), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) doing business as Met-Ed, Penn Power, Penelec and West Penn Power, will request today a review of its base electric rates by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC). The proposed rate adjustment builds on service reliability enhancements made in recent years by upgrading additional distribution grid equipment, providing ongoing tree trimming with a focus on off-right-of-way trees and creating a dedicated team to help low-income residential customers participate in bill assistance programs.

The rate proposal is designed to benefit more than two million customers by continuing FE PA's work to reduce or minimize outages throughout its service territory and enhancing key services. Highlights of the rate review proposal include:

• Modernizing the grid with automated technologies that can prevent or reduce the scope and duration of power outages.
• Increasing the frequency of inspections of overhead circuits and transformers to identify and replace aging equipment.
• Converting about 85,000 company-owned streetlights to energy-efficient LED streetlights that save electricity and money.
• Removing more than 2.4 million trees and overhanging limbs that pose a threat to damage poles and wires along 14,000 miles of line, both on and around power line corridors, over the next 10 years to help reduce tree-related electric service interruptions. Off-right-of-way trees are responsible for more than 90% of tree-caused service interruptions.
• Creating an Energy Assistance Outreach Team to increase awareness and participation in energy assistance programs available to low-income customers.
• Eliminating service fees for customers to pay their electric bills by credit card; benchmarking and customer surveys found 45 percent of customers would pay by credit card if there were no fees.
• Creating an electric vehicle (EV) pilot program to encourage customers to purchase EVs by providing rebates for licensed electricians to install home chargers and other incentives.

Scott Wyman, President of FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania Operations: "Continued investments in a smart, modern energy grid coupled with an expanded vegetation management program that targets trees threatening our equipment will help us deliver on our commitment to providing dependable electricity to homes, businesses and communities. The work we are doing makes a positive difference – installation of new equipment coupled with proactive tree trimming has helped reduce the frequency of electric service interruptions experienced by our Pennsylvania customers by 14 percent since 2019. This rate proposal balances the need to invest in the system while helping keep electric bills comparable to other utilities in the state."

FE PA's rate request totals $502 million across its four Pennsylvania rate districts. If approved, monthly bills would increase on average in the range of $16.61 to $21.30 or about 9.2% to 11.8% for a typical FE PA residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month. The average monthly bill for FE PA customers would be in line with the statewide average for typical customers served by the other three major electric utilities in Pennsylvania.  

FE PA last filed a Pennsylvania rate review in 2016 with rates taking effect in January 2017.    

Specific rate review impacts of the current filing are as follows:

• Met-Ed has requested an increase of $146 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase 9.2% or $17.31 for a new monthly total bill of $205. The bill for a commercial customer using 40 kilowatts (KW) for 250 hours would increase 3.9% or $57.61 for a total bill of $1,523.59. The bill for an industrial customer using 20 megawatts (MW) for 474 hours would increase by 0.5% or $4,958.02 for a total bill of $922,490.44.
• Penelec has requested an increase of $132 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase 9.8% or $19.79 for a new monthly total bill of $220.75. The bill for a commercial customer using 40 KW for 250 hours would increase 4.4% or $66.52 for a total bill of $1,576.49. The bill for an industrial customer using 20 MW for 474 hours would increase by 1.8% or $9,806.10 for a total bill of $558,069.72.
• Penn Power has requested an increase of $55 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase 11.8% or $21.30 for a new monthly total bill of $201.88. The bill for a commercial customer using 40 KW for 250 hours would increase 4.1% or $61.05 for a total bill of $1,549.85. The bill for an industrial customer using 20 MW for 474 hours would increase by 0.7% or $2,764.34 for a total bill of $373,144.37.
• West Penn has requested an increase of $169 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase 10.6% or $16.61 for a new monthly total bill of $172.98. The bill for a commercial customer using 40 KW for 250 hours would increase 4.6% or $61.03 for a total bill of $1,374.25. The bill for an industrial customer using 20 MW for 474 hours would increase by 0.3% or $1,917.74 for a total bill of $642,064.14.

Pending PUC approval, FE PA has requested that the new rates take effect on June 1, 2024. For more information about the proposed rate plan, customers may call the company at 1-800-545-7741.

Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power continue efforts to keep costs manageable for customers. To help customers manage their bills, average payment plans, special payment plans and access to energy assistance programs are offered. For more information, please visit www.firstenergycorp.com/billassist. To learn more about energy efficiency products and programs to help save money, visit www.energysavepa.com.

The public is invited to comment on the filing through the PUC's public comment process and FE PA will participate in public meetings about the plan and engage key stakeholders to ensure an open and thorough review of the proposal.

Met-Ed serves approximately 592,000 customers within 3,300 square miles of eastern and southeastern Pennsylvania. Follow Met-Ed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.

Penelec serves approximately 597,000 customers within 17,600 square miles of northern and central Pennsylvania and western New York. Follow Penelec on X @Penelec and on Facebook at facebook.com/PenelecElectric.

Penn Power serves approximately 173,000 customers in all or parts of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Lawrence and Mercer counties in western Pennsylvania. Follow Penn Power on X @Penn_Power, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennPower, and online at www.pennpower.com.

West Penn Power serves approximately 746,000 customers in 24 counties within central and southwestern Pennsylvania. Follow West Penn on X @W_Penn_Power and on Facebook at facebook.com/WestPennPower.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and on X @FirstEnergyCorp.

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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.