FirstEnergy Plots T&D Growth as Damage from Ohio Scandal Lingers

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--After enduring months of headlines featuring words like "bribery" and "corruption," FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) (Akron, Ohio) saw some positive year-over-year results for second-quarter 2023, as continued growth from regulated investments and lower operating expenses offset the effects of milder-than-expected weather. The utility is struggling to move past its role in a political scandal that jailed two top state officials. Industrial Info is tracking more than $1.7 billion worth of active and planned projects from FirstEnergy, more than 80% of which is attributed to transmission and distribution (T&D) projects.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing active and planned projects from FirstEnergy, by U.S. state.

Former Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Larry Householder (R) and former Chair of the Ohio Republican Party and lobbyist Matthew Borges were both found guilty earlier this year for their roles in a bribery scheme involving FirstEnergy. Householder, with support from Borges, accepted "dark money" from FirstEnergy during his 2016 campaign, in exchange for shepherding through legislation that gave a "bailout" to two of FirstEnergy's failing nuclear power plants.

"Dark money" is a term commonly used for funds from a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, which does not require donors to identify themselves and does not have to report how much money is donated. The nonprofit Partners for Progress served as a front for FirstEnergy.

But bribery still is a crime, so Householder was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Borges was sentenced to five, and FirstEnergy agreed to pay $230 million in fines. FirstEnergy also signed a deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, but still could face a state-level crime probe. Householder and Borges both plan to appeal their convictions.

FirstEnergy at least enjoyed solid financial results for the second quarter, during which the utility's Regulated Transmission business saw its rate base increase 8.2% from the second quarter of 2022. T&D projects account for all of FirstEnergy's major project proposals across Ohio, including its plans to replace the conductor on its LeRoy Center-Mayfield transmission line, which runs 15.8 miles between substations in LeRoy and Chardon, Ohio. The project also involves replacing bracing angles and insulators, among other components. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can learn more from a detailed project report.

Other Ohio-based projects include a proposed, nine-mile line from Bowling Green to Delta, which would connect the existing Dowling-Fulton Transmission Line to the proposed Melbourne Substation in Delta. FirstEnergy says the project will improve service reliability for customers in the Delta Village and Fulton, Pike, Swan Creek and York Townships in Fulton County. Subscribers can read detailed project reports on the transmission line and substation.

Other states hosting FirstEnergy projects include Pennsylvania, where the company started site preparation earlier this year on its Hunterstown-Orrtanna Transmission Line, which will run nine miles from the Hunterstown Substation near Gettysburg to a substation in Orrtanna. FirstEnergy also is considering a proposed 20-mile rebuild of line from Towanda to Meshoppen to better prevent thermal overloads in the surrounding area. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Hunterstown-Orrtanna and Towanda-Meshoppen projects.

FirstEnergy also is growing its presence in the U.S. solar market with a series of additions to its portfolio, including two projects in West Virginia: the 10-megawatt (MW) Fort Martin Solar Plant in Maidsville, which started site preparation in February, and the 10-MW Wylie Ridge Solar Plant in Weirton, for which the company is seeking permits. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Fort Martin and Wylie projects.

Net earnings for FirstEnergy totaled $235 million for second-quarter 2023, a 25.7% increase from the same period last year; for the first half of the year, net earnings totaled $527 million, an 11.9% increase from the first six months of 2022. This comes in spite of mild weather trends prior to the scorching summer: For the first six months of 2023, heating-degree days in FirstEnergy's service area were 17% below normal and 16% below last year, while cooling-degree days were 40% and 47% below normal and last year, respectively.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active and planned projects from FirstEnergy.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).