Cover and table of contents
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Cover and table of contents
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K/A
Amendment No.1
(Mark One)
☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the FISCAL YEAR ended December 31, 2019
OR
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from ___________________ to ___________________
| Commission | Registrant; State of Incorporation; | I.R.S. Employer | |||||||||||||||||||||
| File Number | Address; and Telephone Number | Identification No. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 333-21011 | FIRSTENERGY CORP | 34-1843785 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (An | Ohio | Corporation) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 76 South Main Street | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akron | OH | 44308 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Telephone | (800) | 736-3402 | |||||||||||||||||||||
SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:
| Title of Each Class | Trading Symbol | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered | ||||||||||||
| Common Stock, $0.10 par value per share | FE | New York Stock Exchange |
SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT:
None.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
| Yes | ☑ | No | ☐ |
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
| Yes | ☐ | No | ☑ |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
| Yes | ☑ | No | ☐ |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
| Yes | ☑ | No | ☐ |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large Accelerated Filer | ☑ | ||||
| Accelerated Filer | ☐ | ||||
| Non-accelerated Filer | ☐ | ||||
| Smaller Reporting Company | ☐ | ||||
| Emerging Growth Company | ☐ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).
| Yes | ☐ | No | ☑ |
State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and ask price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter.
$22,724,895,037 as of June 30, 2019
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date:
| CLASS | AS OF JANUARY 31, 2020 | |||||||
| Common Stock, $0.10 par value | 540,713,909 |
Documents Incorporated By Reference
| PART OF FORM 10-K INTO WHICH | ||||||||
| DOCUMENT | DOCUMENT IS INCORPORATED | |||||||
| Proxy Statement for 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of FirstEnergy Corp. to be held May 19, 2020 | Part III |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page | |||||
| Explanatory Note | ii | ||||
| Glossary of Terms | iii | ||||
| Part II | 1 | ||||
| Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | 1 | ||||
| Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | 2 | ||||
| Financial Statements | |||||
| Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) | 4 | ||||
| Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) | 5 | ||||
| Consolidated Balance Sheets | 6 | ||||
| Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity | 7 | ||||
| Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows | 8 | ||||
| Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | 9 | ||||
| Item 9A. Controls and Procedures | 65 | ||||
| Part IV | 67 | ||||
| Item 15. Exhibits | 67 | ||||
i
EXPLANATORY NOTE
On February 10, 2020, FirstEnergy Corp. (the “Company”) filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 (the “Original 10-K”). On November 18, 2020, subsequent to the issuance of the Original 10-K, Company management, in consultation with the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, concluded that there was a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting that existed as of December 31, 2019, and continues to exist as of the end of the third quarter of 2020. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
A committee of independent members of the Board of Directors ("Board") is directing an internal investigation related to ongoing government investigations. In connection with the Company’s internal investigation, such committee determined that certain former members of senior management, including the Company’s former chief executive officer, violated certain Company policies and its code of conduct. Such former members of senior management did not maintain and promote a control environment with an appropriate tone of compliance in certain areas of FirstEnergy’s business, nor sufficiently promote, monitor or enforce adherence to certain FirstEnergy policies and its code of conduct. Furthermore, certain former members of senior management did not reasonably ensure that relevant information was communicated within our organization and not withheld from our independent directors, our Audit Committee, and our independent auditor. Among the matters considered with respect to the determination by the committee of independent members of the Board of Directors that certain former members of senior management violated certain FirstEnergy policies and its code of conduct related to a payment of approximately $4 million made in early 2019 in connection with the termination of a purported consulting agreement, as amended, which had been in place since 2013. The counterparty to such agreement was an entity associated with an individual who subsequently was appointed to a full-time role as an Ohio government official directly involved in regulating the Ohio Companies, including with respect to distribution rates. It has not been determined if the payments were for the purposes represented within the consulting agreement. The matter is a subject of the ongoing internal investigation related to the government investigations.
The Company is filing this Amendment No. 1 to Annual Report on Form 10-K/A (this “Amendment”) solely for the purpose of amending the Original 10-K to: (i) amend and restate the (a) disclosure in the section titled “Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting” and (b) report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, in each case, to reflect that the Company did not maintain, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019, and (ii) amend and restate the disclosure included in Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures,” to reflect the ineffective disclosure controls and procedures as a result of the material weakness. In addition, the Company included Note 18, "Subsequent Events", in Item 8 "Financial Statements And Supplementary Data".
As required by Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer are providing new currently dated certifications. In addition, the Company is filing a new consent from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Accordingly, this Amendment amends Item 15. “Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules” in the Original 10-K to reflect the filing of the new certifications and consent. Other than the foregoing, there are no changes being made to the Original 10-K. In addition, except as specifically described above, this Amendment does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the Original 10-K, nor does it modify or update disclosures therein in any way. Among other things, risk factors and forward-looking statements made in the Original 10-K have not been revised to reflect events that occurred or facts that became known to us after the filing of the Original 10-K, and any such forward looking statements should be read in their historical context. Accordingly, this Amendment should be read in conjunction with the Company’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission subsequent to the filings with the Original 10-K.
ii
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
The following abbreviations and acronyms are used in this report to identify FirstEnergy Corp. and its current and former subsidiaries:
| AE | Allegheny Energy, Inc., a Maryland utility holding company that merged with a subsidiary of FirstEnergy on February 25, 2011, which subsequently merged with and into FE on January 1, 2014 | ||||
| AESC | Allegheny Energy Service Corporation, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. | ||||
| AE Supply | Allegheny Energy Supply Company, LLC, an unregulated generation subsidiary | ||||
| AGC | Allegheny Generating Company, formerly a generation subsidiary of AE Supply that became a wholly owned subsidiary of MP in May 2018 | ||||
| ATSI | American Transmission Systems, Incorporated, formerly a direct subsidiary of FE that became a subsidiary of FET in April 2012, which owns and operates transmission facilities | ||||
| BSPC | Bay Shore Power Company | ||||
| CEI | The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, an Ohio electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| CES | Competitive Energy Services, formerly a reportable operating segment of FirstEnergy | ||||
| FE | FirstEnergy Corp., a public utility holding company | ||||
| FELHC | FirstEnergy License Holding Company | ||||
| FENOC | FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, a subsidiary of FE, which operates NG's nuclear generating facilities | ||||
| FES | FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, FG, NG, FE Aircraft Leasing Corp., Norton Energy Storage L.L.C., and FGMUC, which provides energy-related products and services | ||||
| FES Debtors | FES and FENOC | ||||
| FESC | FirstEnergy Service Company, which provides legal, financial and other corporate support services | ||||
| FET | FirstEnergy Transmission, LLC, formerly known as Allegheny Energy Transmission, LLC, which is the parent of ATSI, MAIT and TrAIL, and has a joint venture in PATH | ||||
| FEV | FirstEnergy Ventures Corp., which invests in certain unregulated enterprises and business ventures | ||||
| FG | FirstEnergy Generation, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of FES, which owns and operates non-nuclear generating facilities | ||||
| FGMUC | FirstEnergy Generation Mansfield Unit 1 Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of FG, which has certain leasehold interests in a portion of Unit 1 at the Bruce Mansfield plant | ||||
| FirstEnergy | FirstEnergy Corp., together with its consolidated subsidiaries | ||||
| Global Holding | Global Mining Holding Company, LLC, a joint venture between FEV, WMB Marketing Ventures, LLC and Pinesdale LLC | ||||
| Global Rail | Global Rail Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Global Holding that owns coal transportation operations near Roundup, Montana | ||||
| GPU | GPU, Inc., former parent of JCP&L, ME and PN, that merged with FE on November 7, 2001 | ||||
| GPUN | GPU Nuclear, Inc., a subsidiary of FE, which operates TMI-2 | ||||
| JCP&L | Jersey Central Power & Light Company, a New Jersey electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| MAIT | Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC, a subsidiary of FET, which owns and operates transmission facilities | ||||
| ME | Metropolitan Edison Company, a Pennsylvania electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| MP | Monongahela Power Company, a West Virginia electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| NG | FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of FES, which owns nuclear generating facilities | ||||
| OE | Ohio Edison Company, an Ohio electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| Ohio Companies | CEI, OE and TE | ||||
| PATH | Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline, LLC, a joint venture between FE and a subsidiary of AEP | ||||
| PATH-Allegheny | PATH Allegheny Transmission Company, LLC | ||||
| PATH-WV | PATH West Virginia Transmission Company, LLC | ||||
| PE | The Potomac Edison Company, a Maryland and West Virginia electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| Penn | Pennsylvania Power Company, a Pennsylvania electric utility operating subsidiary of OE | ||||
| Pennsylvania Companies | ME, PN, Penn and WP | ||||
| PN | Pennsylvania Electric Company, a Pennsylvania electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| Signal Peak | Signal Peak Energy, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Global Holding that owns mining operations near Roundup, Montana | ||||
| TE | The Toledo Edison Company, an Ohio electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
| TrAIL | Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Company, a subsidiary of FET, which owns and operates transmission facilities | ||||
| Transmission Companies | ATSI, MAIT and TrAIL | ||||
| Utilities | OE, CEI, TE, Penn, JCP&L, ME, PN, MP, PE and WP | ||||
| WP | West Penn Power Company, a Pennsylvania electric utility operating subsidiary | ||||
iii
| The following abbreviations and acronyms are used to identify frequently used terms in this report: | ||||||||||||||
| ACE | Affordable Clean Energy | DTA | Deferred Tax Asset | |||||||||||
| ADIT | Accumulated Deferred Income Taxes | E&P | Earnings and Profits | |||||||||||
| AEP | American Electric Power Company, Inc. | EDC | Electric Distribution Company | |||||||||||
| AFS | Available-for-sale | EDCP | Executive Deferred Compensation Plan | |||||||||||
| AFUDC | Allowance for Funds Used During Construction | EDIS | Electric Distribution Investment Surcharge | |||||||||||
| ALJ | Administrative Law Judge | EE&C | Energy Efficiency and Conservation | |||||||||||
| AMT | Alternative Minimum Tax | EGS | Electric Generation Supplier | |||||||||||
| ANI | American Nuclear Insurers | EGU | Electric Generation Units | |||||||||||
| AOCI | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income | EmPOWER Maryland | EmPOWER Maryland Energy Efficiency Act | |||||||||||
| ARO | Asset Retirement Obligation | ENEC | Expanded Net Energy Cost | |||||||||||
| ARP | Alternative Revenue Program | EPA | United States Environmental Protection Agency | |||||||||||
| ASC | Accounting Standard Codification | EPS | Earnings per Share | |||||||||||
| ASU | Accounting Standards Update | ERO | Electric Reliability Organization | |||||||||||
| AYE DCD | Allegheny Energy, Inc. Amended and Restated Revised Plan for Deferral of Compensation of Directors | ESOP | Employee Stock Ownership Plan | |||||||||||
| AYE Director's Plan | Allegheny Energy, Inc. Non-Employee Director Stock Plan | ESP IV | Electric Security Plan IV | |||||||||||
| Bankruptcy Court | U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Ohio in Akron | Facebook® | Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. | |||||||||||
| Bath County | Bath County Pumped Storage Hydro-Power Station | FASB | Financial Accounting Standards Board | |||||||||||
| BGS | Basic Generation Service | FE Tomorrow | FirstEnergy's initiative launched in late 2016 to identify its optimal organizational structure and properly align corporate costs and systems to efficiently support a fully regulated company going forward | |||||||||||
| BNSF | BNSF Railway Company | FERC | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | |||||||||||
| bps | Basis points | FES Bankruptcy | FES Debtors' voluntary petitions for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the Bankruptcy Court | |||||||||||
| CAA | Clean Air Act | Fitch | Fitch Ratings | |||||||||||
| CBA | Collective Bargaining Agreement | FMB | First Mortgage Bond | |||||||||||
| CCR | Coal Combustion Residuals | FPA | Federal Power Act | |||||||||||
| CERCLA | Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 | FTR | Financial Transmission Right | |||||||||||
| CFL | Compact Fluorescent Light | GAAP | Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States of America | |||||||||||
| CFR | Code of Federal Regulations | GHG | Greenhouse Gases | |||||||||||
| CO2 | Carbon Dioxide | IBEW | International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers | |||||||||||
| CPP | EPA's Clean Power Plan | ICP 2007 | FirstEnergy Corp. 2007 Incentive Compensation Plan | |||||||||||
| CSAPR | Cross-State Air Pollution Rule | ICP 2015 | FirstEnergy Corp. 2015 Incentive Compensation Plan | |||||||||||
| CSX | CSX Transportation, Inc. | IIP | Infrastructure Investment Program | |||||||||||
| CTA | Consolidated Tax Adjustment | IRS | Internal Revenue Service | |||||||||||
| CWA | Clean Water Act | ISO | Independent System Operator | |||||||||||
| D.C. Circuit | United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | JCP&L Reliability Plus | JCP&L Reliability Plus IIP | |||||||||||
| DCPD | Deferred Compensation Plan for Outside Directors | kV | Kilovolt | |||||||||||
| DCR | Delivery Capital Recovery | KWH | Kilowatt-hour | |||||||||||
| DMR | Distribution Modernization Rider | LBR | Little Blue Run | |||||||||||
| DPM | Distribution Platform Modernization | LED | Light Emitting Diode | |||||||||||
| DSIC | Distribution System Improvement Charge | LIBOR | London Interbank Offered Rate | |||||||||||
| DSP | Default Service Plan | LOC | Letter of Credit |
iv
| LS Power | LS Power Equity Partners III, LP | POR | Purchase of Receivables | |||||||||||
| LSE | Load Serving Entity | PPA | Purchase Power Agreement | |||||||||||
| LTIIPs | Long-Term Infrastructure Improvement Plans | PPB | Parts per Billion | |||||||||||
| MDPSC | Maryland Public Service Commission | PPUC | Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission | |||||||||||
| MGP | Manufactured Gas Plants | PUCO | Public Utilities Commission of Ohio | |||||||||||
| MISO | Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. | PURPA | Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 | |||||||||||
| mmBTU | One Million British Thermal Units | RCRA | Resource Conservation and Recovery Act | |||||||||||
| Moody’s | Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. | REC | Renewable Energy Credit | |||||||||||
| MW | Megawatt | Regulation FD | Regulation Fair Disclosure promulgated by the SEC | |||||||||||
| MWH | Megawatt-hour | RFC | ReliabilityFirst Corporation | |||||||||||
| NAAQS | National Ambient Air Quality Standards | RFP | Request for Proposal | |||||||||||
| NAV | Net Asset Value | RGGI | Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative | |||||||||||
| NDT | Nuclear Decommissioning Trust | ROE | Return on Equity | |||||||||||
| NEIL | Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited | RSS | Rich Site Summary | |||||||||||
| NERC | North American Electric Reliability Corporation | RSU | Restricted Stock Unit | |||||||||||
| NJBPU | New Jersey Board of Public Utilities | RTEP | Regional Transmission Expansion Plan | |||||||||||
| NMB | Non-Market Based | RTO | Regional Transmission Organization | |||||||||||
| NOL | Net Operating Loss | S&P | Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service | |||||||||||
| NOx | Nitrogen Oxide | SBC | Societal Benefits Charge | |||||||||||
| NPDES | National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System | SCOH | Supreme Court of Ohio | |||||||||||
| NRC | Nuclear Regulatory Commission | SEC | United States Securities and Exchange Commission | |||||||||||
| NSR | New Source Review | SIP | State Implementation Plan(s) Under the Clean Air Act | |||||||||||
| NUG | Non-Utility Generation | SO2 | Sulfur Dioxide | |||||||||||
| NYPSC | New York State Public Service Commission | SOS | Standard Offer Service | |||||||||||
| OCA | Office of Consumer Advocate | SPE | Special Purpose Entity | |||||||||||
| OCC | Ohio Consumers' Counsel | SREC | Solar Renewable Energy Credit | |||||||||||
| OEPA | Ohio Environmental Protection Agency | SSO | Standard Service Offer | |||||||||||
| OMAEG | Ohio Manufacturers' Association Energy Group | SVC | Static Var Compensator | |||||||||||
| OPEB | Other Post-Employment Benefits | Tax Act | Tax Cuts and Jobs Act adopted December 22, 2017 | |||||||||||
| OPEIU | Office and Professional Employees International Union | TMI-2 | Three Mile Island Unit 2 | |||||||||||
| OPIC | Other Paid-in Capital | Twitter® | Twitter is a registered trademark of Twitter, Inc. | |||||||||||
| OSHA | Occupational Safety and Health Administration | UCC | Official committee of unsecured creditors appointed in connection with the FES Bankruptcy | |||||||||||
| OVEC | Ohio Valley Electric Corporation | UWUA | Utility Workers Union of America | |||||||||||
| PA DEP | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection | VEPCO | Virginia Electric and Power Company | |||||||||||
| PCRB | Pollution Control Revenue Bond | VIE | Variable Interest Entity | |||||||||||
| PJM | PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. | VMS | Vegetation Management Surcharge | |||||||||||
| PJM Region | The aggregate of the zones within PJM | VSCC | Virginia State Corporation Commission | |||||||||||
| PJM Tariff | PJM Open Access Transmission Tariff | WVPSC | Public Service Commission of West Virginia | |||||||||||
| POLR | Provider of Last Resort |
v
PART II
Next: Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA