FirstEnergy 10-K 2021-12-31

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(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, 2021

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ___________________ to ___________________

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:

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.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

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.

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).

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.

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 has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

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.

$20,228,791,176 as of June 30, 2021

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date:

Documents Incorporated By Reference

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

The following abbreviations and acronyms are used in this report to identify FirstEnergy Corp. and its current and former subsidiaries:

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PART I

The Companies

FE and its subsidiaries are principally involved in the transmission, distribution, and generation of electricity. FirstEnergy’s ten utility operating companies comprise one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric systems, based on serving over six million customers in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. FirstEnergy’s transmission operations include over 24,000 miles of transmission lines and two regional transmission operation centers. AGC and MP control 3,580 MWs of total capacity.

FirstEnergy’s revenues are primarily derived from electric service provided by the Utilities and Transmission Companies.

Regulated Utility Operating Subsidiaries

The Utilities’ combined service areas encompass approximately 65,000 square miles in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. The areas they serve have a combined population of approximately 13.5 million.

OE owns property and does business as an electric public utility in Ohio. OE engages in the distribution and sale of electric energy to communities in a 7,000 square mile area of central and northeastern Ohio. The area it serves has a population of approximately 2.3 million.

OE owns all of Penn’s outstanding common stock. Penn owns property and does business as an electric public utility in Pennsylvania. Penn furnishes electric service to communities in 1,100 square miles of western Pennsylvania. The area it serves has a population of approximately 0.4 million.

CEI does business as an electric public utility in Ohio. CEI engages in the distribution and sale of electric energy in an area of 1,600 square miles in northeastern Ohio. The area it serves has a population of approximately 1.7 million.

TE does business as an electric public utility in Ohio. TE engages in the distribution and sale of electric energy in an area of 2,300 square miles in northwestern Ohio. The area it serves has a population of approximately 0.7 million.

JCP&L owns property and does business as an electric public utility in New Jersey. JCP&L provides transmission and distribution services in 3,200 square miles of northern, western, and east central New Jersey. The area it serves has a population of approximately 2.7 million.

ME owns property and does business as an electric public utility in Pennsylvania. ME provides distribution services in 3,300 square miles of eastern and south central Pennsylvania. The area it serves has a population of approximately 1.3 million.

PN owns property and does business as an electric public utility in Pennsylvania. PN provides distribution services in 17,600 square miles of western, northern, and south central Pennsylvania. The area PN serves has a population of approximately 1.2 million. Also, PN, as lessee of the property of its subsidiary, the Waverly Electric Light & Power Company, serves approximately 4,000 customers in the Waverly, New York vicinity. On February 10, 2021, PN entered into an agreement to transfer its customers and the related assets in Waverly, New York to Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative; the completion of such transfer is subject to several closing conditions including regulatory approval, but is expected to have an immaterial impact to FirstEnergy's financial statements.

PE owns property and does business as an electric public utility in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. PE provides transmission and distribution services in portions of Maryland and West Virginia and provides transmission services in Virginia in an area totaling approximately 5,500 square miles. The area it serves has a population of approximately 0.9 million.

MP owns property and does business as an electric public utility in West Virginia. MP provides generation, transmission, and distribution services in 13,000 square miles of northern West Virginia. The area it serves has a population of approximately 0.8 million. MP is contractually obligated to provide power to PE to meet its load obligations in West Virginia. MP owns or contractually controls 3,580 MWs of generation capacity that is supplied to its electric utility business, including a 16.25% undivided interest in the Bath County pumped-storage hydroelectric generation facility in Virginia (487 MWs) through its wholly owned subsidiary AGC.

WP owns property and does business as an electric public utility in Pennsylvania. WP provides transmission and distribution services in 10,400 square miles of southwestern, south-central, and northern Pennsylvania. The area it serves has a population of approximately 1.5 million.

Regulated Transmission Operating Subsidiaries

ATSI owns high-voltage transmission facilities in PJM, which consist of approximately 7,900 circuit miles of transmission lines with nominal voltages of 345 kV, 138 kV and 69 kV in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

TrAIL owns high-voltage transmission facilities in PJM, which consists of approximately 260 circuit miles of transmission lines, including a 500 kV transmission line extending approximately 150 miles from southwestern Pennsylvania through West Virginia to a point of interconnection with VEPCO in northern Virginia.

MAIT owns high-voltage transmission facilities in PJM, which consist of approximately 4,300 circuit miles of transmission lines with nominal voltages of 500 kV, 345 kV, 230 kV, 138 kV, 115 kV, 69 kV and 46 kV in Pennsylvania.

KATCo was formed to accommodate new transmission construction in the WP, MP and PE footprint and currently does not own or operate any transmission assets.

Service Company

FESC provides legal, financial, and other corporate support services at cost, in accordance with its cost allocation manual, to affiliated FirstEnergy companies.

Operating Segments

FirstEnergy's reportable operating segments are comprised of the Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments.

The Regulated Distribution segment distributes electricity through FirstEnergy’s ten utility operating companies, serving approximately six million customers within 65,000 square miles of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, and purchases power for its POLR, SOS, SSO and default service requirements in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. This segment also controls 3,580 MWs of regulated electric generation capacity located primarily in West Virginia and Virginia. The segment's results reflect the costs of securing and delivering electric generation from transmission facilities to customers, including the deferral and amortization of certain related costs.

The Regulated Transmission segment provides transmission infrastructure owned and operated by the Transmission Companies and certain of FirstEnergy's utilities (JCP&L, MP, PE and WP) to transmit electricity from generation sources to distribution facilities. The segment's revenues are primarily derived from forward-looking formula rates. Under forward-looking formula rates, the revenue requirement is updated annually based on a projected rate base and projected costs, which is subject to an annual true-up based on actual rate base and costs. The segment's results also reflect the net transmission expenses related to the delivery of electricity on FirstEnergy's transmission facilities. On November 6, 2021, FirstEnergy, along with FET, entered into the FET P&SA, with Brookfield and Brookfield Guarantors pursuant to which FET agreed to issue and sell to Brookfield at the closing, and Brookfield agreed to purchase from FET, certain newly issued membership interests of FET, such that Brookfield will own 19.9% of the issued and outstanding membership interests of FET, for a purchase price of $2.375 billion. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the FERC and review by the CFIUS.

Corporate/Other reflects corporate support and other costs not charged or attributable to the Utilities or Transmission Companies, including FE's retained Pension and OPEB assets and liabilities of the FES Debtors, interest expense on FE’s holding company debt and other businesses that do not constitute an operating segment. Additionally, reconciling adjustments for the elimination of inter-segment transactions are included in Corporate/Other. As of December 31, 2021, 67 MWs of electric generating capacity, representing AE Supply's OVEC capacity entitlement, is included in Corporate/Other. As of December 31, 2021, Corporate/Other had approximately $7.9 billion of FE holding company debt.

Utility Regulation

Regulatory Accounting

FirstEnergy accounts for the effects of regulation through the application of regulatory accounting to the Utilities and the Transmission Companies since their rates are established by a third-party regulator with the authority to set rates that bind customers, are cost-based and can be charged to and collected from customers.

The Utilities and the Transmission Companies recognize, as regulatory assets and regulatory liabilities, costs which FERC and the various state utility commissions, as applicable, have authorized for recovery from or return to customers in future periods or for which authorization is probable. Without the probability of such authorization, costs currently recorded as regulatory assets and regulatory liabilities would have been charged or credited to income as incurred. All regulatory assets and liabilities are expected to be recovered from or returned to customers. Based on current ratemaking procedures, the Utilities and the Transmission Companies continue to collect cost-based rates for their transmission and distribution services; accordingly, it is appropriate that the Utilities and the Transmission Companies continue the application of regulatory accounting to those operations. Regulatory accounting is applied only to the parts of the business that meet the above criteria. If a portion of the business applying regulatory accounting no longer meets those requirements, previously recorded regulatory assets and liabilities are removed from the balance sheet in accordance with GAAP.

State Regulation

The following table summarizes the allowed ROE and the aggregate actual ROE of the Utilities by state for the year ended December 31, 2021, as determined for regulatory purposes:

(1) Actual ROE is based on methodology used in last distribution rate case and/or quarterly earnings reports, as applicable. Rate base is for distribution assets only (except West Virginia) and reflects the actual capital structure for Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland, and the allowed capital structure for Ohio. Actual ROEs reflect actual revenue (not weather normalized) and historical results should not be relied upon to estimate the outcome of future rate cases as regulatory assumptions may vary.

(2) Commission-approved settlement agreements did not disclose ROE rates.

(3) On October 28, 2020, the NJBPU approved JCP&L's distribution rate case settlement with an allowed ROE of 9.6%. Rates were effective for customers on November 1, 2021.

See "Outlook - State Regulation" in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information and discussion.

Federal Regulation

See "Outlook - FERC Regulatory Matters" in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information and discussion.

Environmental Matters

See "Outlook - Environmental Matters" in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information and discussion.

Capital Requirements

FirstEnergy’s business is capital intensive, requiring significant resources to fund operating expenses, construction and other investment expenditures, scheduled debt maturities and interest payments, dividend payments, and potential contributions to its pension plan. See "Capital Resources and Liquidity" in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information and discussion.

Supply Plan

Supply Chain

FirstEnergy has experienced supply chain challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lead times have increased across numerous material categories, with some as much as doubling from previous times. Some key suppliers have struggled with labor shortages and raw material availability, which along with inflationary pressure, have increased the costs of certain materials, equipment and contractors. FirstEnergy continues to monitor supply chain risk as it anticipates these challenges continuing into 2022 and is mitigating these risks by:

• Establishing a cross-functional team to forecast potential impacts to operations and programs;

• Expanding supply base to increase resiliency;

• Enhancing the demand management and material reservation process;

• Evaluating substitute products, reserving production capacity, and buying ahead in targeted categories; and

• Staying updated by participating in discussions with other utilities through EEI, which has a long history of mutual assistance in the electric utility industry.

Default Service

Certain of the Utilities have default service obligations to provide power to non-shopping customers who have elected to continue to receive service under regulated retail tariffs. The volume of these sales can vary depending on the level of shopping that occurs and these default service plans vary by state and by service territory. JCP&L’s default service, or BGS supply, is secured through a statewide competitive procurement process approved by the NJBPU. Default service for the Ohio Companies, Pennsylvania Companies and PE's Maryland jurisdiction are provided through a competitive procurement process approved by the PUCO (under ESP IV), PPUC (under the DSP) and MDPSC (under the SOS), respectively. If any supplier fails to deliver

power to any one of those Utilities’ service areas, the Utility serving that area may need to procure the required power in the market in their role as the default LSE. West Virginia electric generation continues to be regulated by the WVPSC.

Fuel Supply

MP currently has coal contracts with various terms to purchase approximately 7.9 million tons of coal for the year 2022, which fulfills its forecasted 2022 coal requirements. This contracted coal is produced primarily from mines located in Pennsylvania, Illinois and West Virginia. The contracts expire at various times through 2025. See "Outlook - Environmental Matters" in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information pertaining to the impact of increased environmental regulations on coal supply.

System Demand

The maximum hourly demand for each of the Utilities was:

Regional Reliability

All of FirstEnergy's facilities are located within PJM and operate under the reliability oversight of a regional entity known as RFC. This regional entity operates under the oversight of NERC in accordance with a delegation agreement approved by FERC.

Competition

Within FirstEnergy’s Regulated Distribution segment, generally there is no competition for electric distribution service in the Utilities’ respective service territories in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. Additionally, there has traditionally been no competition for transmission service in PJM. However, pursuant to FERC’s Order No. 1000 and subject to state and local siting and permitting approvals, non-incumbent developers now can compete for certain PJM transmission projects in the service territories of FirstEnergy’s Regulated Transmission segment. This could result in additional competition to build transmission facilities in the Regulated Transmission segment’s service territories while also allowing the Regulated Transmission segment the opportunity to seek to build facilities in non-incumbent service territories.

Seasonality

The sale of electric power is generally a seasonal business, and weather patterns can have a material impact on FirstEnergy’s Regulated Distribution segment operating results. Demand for electricity in our service territories historically peaks during the summer and winter months. Accordingly, FirstEnergy’s annual results of operations and liquidity position may depend disproportionately on its operating performance during the summer and winter. Mild weather conditions may result in lower power sales and consequently lower earnings.

Human Capital

FirstEnergy focuses on a number of human capital resources, measures, and objectives in managing its business, including: safety, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee development, and compensation and benefits. Collectively, these focus areas may be material to understanding its business under certain circumstances.

Employees and Collective Bargaining Agreements

As of December 31, 2021, FirstEnergy had 12,395 employees, all of whom were located in the United States as follows:

As of December 31, 2021, the IBEW, the UWUA and the OPEIU unions collectively represented approximately half of FirstEnergy’s employees. There are 15 CBAs between FirstEnergy’s subsidiaries and its unions, which have three, four or five- year terms. In 2021, FirstEnergy’s subsidiaries reached new agreements with 4 IBEW locals, covering 1,960 employees, and 1 UWA local, covering 660 employees.

Safety

Safety is a core value of FirstEnergy. FirstEnergy employees have the power and responsibility to keep each other safe and eliminate life-changing events, which are injuries that have life-changing impacts or fatal results. Safety metrics, such as injuries that result in days away or restricted time and life-changing events, are regularly monitored, internally reported, and are included in our annual incentive compensation program to reinforce that a safe work environment is crucial to FirstEnergy’s success.

FirstEnergy continues to shift its focus from achieving low OSHA rates to proactively identifying and mitigating life-changing event exposure. This shift in focus strengthens FirstEnergy’s safety-first culture by aligning our leadership around the same goal and driving safer decisions from an engaged workforce who puts safety first. To support that shift, FirstEnergy continues to embed its "Leading with Safety" learnings and experiences obtained during its 2020 and 2021 Safety Transformation. FirstEnergy continues to enhance and reinforce leader and employee safety training and exposure control concepts to improve job site exposure identification, communication and mitigation to prevent life changing events. Further, FirstEnergy continues to expand its “Leading with Safety” experiences with its employees to achieve excellence in personal, contractor and public safety.

Additionally, FirstEnergy’s employees’ well-being is essential to its core value of safety. FirstEnergy is taking a well-informed, decisive and measured response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as recommended by medical experts, to protect the health and safety of our employees and the public, while also continuing to serve our customers. FirstEnergy continues to provide flexibility for approximately 7,000 of its 12,400 employees to work from home. Pandemic safety and cleaning protocols were implemented for those workers who have continued to report to a FirstEnergy work location during this public health emergency, ensuring FirstEnergy employees can report directly to job sites and work with the same small group of employees every day. FirstEnergy developed a COVID-19 medical screening process under which a medical staff consisting of nurses, doctors and non-medical intake teams were assembled to manage COVID-19 related exposures, illnesses and quarantines; perform contact tracing; and ultimately safely return employees to work. FirstEnergy continues to comply with Federal laws and state health directives as they emerge and adjusts its procedures as needed to continue to keep its employees safe.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a core value, as well as a corporate objective because a diverse, equitable and inclusive work environment delivers better service to customers, strong operational performance, innovation, and a safe, rewarding work experience for employees. FirstEnergy is focused on building a diverse workforce for the future, advancing a culture of equity, inclusion and belonging, and enhancing our diversity focus with our customers, in our communities and with our suppliers.

Affirmative steps taken at FirstEnergy to promote the core value of diversity, equity and inclusion include:

• FirstEnergy sponsors an executive diversity, equity and inclusion council consisting of senior management and other leaders across the company;

• Holding an annual “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Employee Survey” to capture employees’ perspectives on FirstEnergy’s efforts in this area, and where the results are discussed with employees in order to drive initiatives and action plans for improvement. This includes establishing:

◦a cross-functional working group to oversee the development and implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion action plans company-wide;

◦additional teams of employees embedded throughout FirstEnergy to implement local actions supporting diversity, equity and inclusion;

• FirstEnergy’s employees have established multiple employee business resource groups, known as "EBRGs," to further support diversity, equity and inclusion objectives through networking, mentoring, coaching, recruiting, development and community outreach;

• Employees are provided ongoing training and education on a variety of diversity, equity and inclusion topics;

• Enhanced transparency of diversity, equity and inclusion data, talent processes and measurement of progress;

• FirstEnergy has enhanced the recruiting processes to increase the number of diverse candidates considered for open positions and expand the diversity of teams interviewing those candidates. These enhancements include:

◦expanded relationship building with key diverse professional organizations, colleges and universities;

◦a more strategic approach to proactive talent sourcing that ensures increased diversity of candidate slates presented to hiring managers;

◦expanded diversity of teams interviewing those candidates.

• Increase leadership accountability by including diversity, equity and inclusion metrics in FirstEnergy’s annual incentive compensation program.

Employee Development

FirstEnergy’s employees are empowered to take ownership of their careers with increased openness into FirstEnergy’s internal and external hiring process and greater availability of tools and processes that support career management, talent reviews, succession planning and leadership selection. FirstEnergy is committed to preparing its high-performing workforce for the future and helping employees reach their full potential. That means developing employee skills and competencies and preparing emerging and experienced leaders for future management responsibilities.

Understanding FirstEnergy’s rapidly changing industry and strategy is key to employees’ ability to support FirstEnergy’s mission and meet its customers’ evolving needs. Key FirstEnergy development programs include:

• a mentoring program;

• "Discover FE," which is designed to broaden and deepen knowledge of FirstEnergy and the electric utility industry generally;

• new supervisor and manager program;

• experienced leader program;

• aspiring leader program;

• external partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership for senior and executive leadership development,

• "Educate to Elevate," which provides access to post-secondary education and a path to an Associate’s and Bachelor’s degrees for employees; and

• Power Systems Institute, an award-winning program for recruiting and developing the next generation of highly trained, dedicated and motivated line and substation workers.

Compensation and Benefits

FirstEnergy’s total rewards program is designed to attract, motivate, retain and reward employees for their role in the success of FirstEnergy. The base pay program is designed to provide individual base pay levels that balance an employee’s value to FirstEnergy with comparable jobs at peer companies. FirstEnergy is committed to ensuring that our internal policies and processes support pay equity, which was confirmed in a third-party review of our practices in 2019. The annual incentive compensation program is designed to reward the achievement of near-term corporate and business unit objectives. Additionally, FirstEnergy’s long-term incentive compensation program is designed to reward eligible executives for FirstEnergy’s achievement of longer-term goals intended to drive shareholder value and growth. In addition to base pay and incentive compensation plans, FirstEnergy offers a comprehensive benefits program, including a 401(k) Savings Plan and a defined benefit Pension Plan.

Information About Our Executive Officers (as of February 16, 2022)

FirstEnergy Website and Other Social Media Sites and Applications

FirstEnergy's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, amendments to those reports, and all other documents filed with or furnished to the SEC pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act are made available free of charge on or through the "Investors" page of FirstEnergy’s website at www.firstenergycorp.com. These documents are also available to the public from commercial document retrieval services and the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.

These SEC filings are posted on the website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Additionally, FirstEnergy routinely posts additional important information, including press releases, investor presentations, investor factbooks and notices of upcoming events under the "Investors" section of FirstEnergy’s website and recognizes FirstEnergy’s website as a channel of distribution to reach public investors and as a means of disclosing material non-public information for complying with disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Investors may be notified of postings to the website by signing up for email alerts and RSS feeds on the "Investors" page of FirstEnergy's website. FirstEnergy also uses Twitter® and Facebook® as additional channels of distribution to reach public investors and as a supplemental means of

disclosing material non-public information for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Information contained on FirstEnergy’s website, Twitter® handle or Facebook® page, and any corresponding applications of those sites, shall not be deemed incorporated into, or to be part of, this report.

We operate in a business environment that involves significant risks, many of which are beyond our control. Management regularly evaluates the most significant risks of its businesses and reviews those risks with the FE Board and appropriate Committees of the FE Board. The following risk factors and all other information contained in this report should be considered carefully when evaluating FirstEnergy. These risk factors could affect our financial results and cause such results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of us. Below, we have identified risks we consider material. You should not interpret the disclosure of any risk factor to imply that the risk has not already materialized. Although the risks are organized by headings, and each risk is discussed separately, many are interrelated. Additional information on risk factors is included in Item 1, "Business,” Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and in other sections of this Form 10-K that include forward-looking and other statements involving risks and uncertainties that could impact our business and financial results.

Risks Associated with Damage to Our Reputation

Damage to our reputation may arise from numerous sources making us vulnerable to negative customer perception, adverse regulatory outcomes, or other consequences, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Our reputation is important. Damage to our reputation could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition and may arise from numerous sources further discussed below, including a breach of the DPA, negative outcomes associated with the SEC and FERC investigations or other HB 6 litigation or investigations, a significant cyber-attack or data security breach, failure to provide safe and reliable service, and operating coal-fired generation. Any damage to our reputation may lead to negative customer perception, which may make it difficult for us to compete successfully for new opportunities, or could adversely impact our ability to launch new sophisticated technology-driven solutions to meet our customer expectations. Further, a damaged reputation could further result in FERC and the state utility commissions that regulate our rates, and other regulatory and legislative authorities being less likely to view us in a favorable light, and could negatively impact the rates we charge customers or otherwise cause us to be susceptible to unfavorable legislative and regulatory outcomes, as well as increased regulatory oversight and more stringent legislative or regulatory requirements.

Risks Associated with the Ongoing Investigations

If We Violate our DPA That We Entered Into on July 20, 2021, It Could Have a Material Adverse Effect on our Reputation and Consolidated Financial Statements

On July 21, 2021, we entered into a three-year DPA with the U.S. Attorney’s Office that, subject to court proceedings, resolves the previously disclosed U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation into us relating to our lobbying and governmental affairs activities concerning HB 6. Under the DPA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a single charge alleging that we conspired to commit honest services wire fraud. The DPA provides that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will defer any prosecution of such conspiracy charge and any other criminal or civil case against us in connection with the matters identified therein for a three-year period subject to certain obligations of ours, including, but not limited to, the following: (i) continued cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in all matters relating to the conduct described in the DPA and other conduct under investigation by the U.S. government; (ii) payment of a criminal monetary penalty totaling $230 million, which was paid in 2021; (iii) publish a list of all payments made in 2021 to either 501(c)(4) entities or to entities known by FirstEnergy to be operating for the benefit of a public official, either directly or indirectly, and update the same on a quarterly basis during the term of the DPA; (iv) publication of a public acknowledgement of our conduct, including a statement, as dictated in the DPA, regarding our use of 501(c)(4) entities; and (v) continued implementation and review of our compliance and ethics program, internal controls, policies and procedures designed, implemented and enforced to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. laws throughout its operations, and to take certain related remedial measures. If we are found to have breached the terms of the DPA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office may elect to prosecute, or bring a civil action against, us for conduct alleged in the DPA or known to the government, which could result in fines or penalties and could have a material adverse impact on our reputation or relationships with regulatory and legislative authorities, customers and other stakeholders, as well as our consolidated financial statements. Failure to comply with the DPA, including alleged failures to comply with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, may also result in a breach of certain covenants contained in our credit agreements and could result in an event of default under such agreements, and we would not be able to access our credit facilities for additional borrowings and letters of credit during the existence of any such default.

The SEC Investigation and HB 6 Related Litigation Could Have a Material Adverse Effect on our Reputation, Business, Financial Condition, Results of Operations, Liquidity or Cash Flows

Following the announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the S.D. Ohio of the investigation surrounding HB 6 in July 2020, certain of our stockholders and customers filed several lawsuits against us and certain current and former directors, officers and

other employees. In addition, on August 10, 2020, the SEC, through its Division of Enforcement, issued an order directing an investigation of possible securities laws violations by FirstEnergy, and on September 1, 2020, issued subpoenas to FirstEnergy and certain of its officers. We are cooperating with the SEC in their ongoing investigation. We believe that it is probable that FE will incur a loss in connection with the resolution of the SEC’s investigation. Given the ongoing nature and complexity of such investigation, we cannot yet reasonably estimate a loss or range of loss that may arise from the resolution of the SEC investigation, but such resolution could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or cash flows.

The investigations and litigation related to HB 6 could divert management’s focus and have resulted in, and could continue to result in substantial investigation expenses, and the commitment of substantial corporate resources. The outcome of the government investigations and related litigation is inherently uncertain. Further, we believe that it is probable that FE will incur a loss in connection with the resolution of In re FirstEnergy Corp. Securities Litigation (Federal District Court, S.D. Ohio). Given the ongoing nature and complexity of such litigation, we cannot yet reasonably estimate a loss or range of loss that may arise from its resolution. If one or more legal matters, including In re FirstEnergy Corp. Securities Litigation, were resolved against us, our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or cash flows may be materially adversely affected. Further, such an outcome could result in settlement agreements, significant monetary damages, remedial corporate measures or other relief against us that could further adversely impact our operations.

We are unable to predict the outcome, duration, scope, result or related costs of the investigations and related

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None.

The first mortgage indentures for the Ohio Companies, Penn, MP, PE and WP constitute direct first liens on substantially all of the respective physical property, subject only to excepted encumbrances, as defined in the first mortgage indentures. See Note 9, "Capitalization," of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information concerning financing encumbrances affecting certain of the Utilities’ properties.

FirstEnergy controls the following generation sources as of December 31, 2021, shown in the table below, and operates in PJM. Except for the OVEC participation referenced in the footnotes to the table, the Regulated Distribution segment generating units are owned by MP.

(1)Represents AE Supply's 3.01% and MP's 0.49% entitlement based on their participation in OVEC.

(2)Represents AGC's 16.25% undivided interest in Bath County. The station is operated by VEPCO.

As of December 31, 2021, FirstEnergy’s distribution and transmission circuit miles are located in PJM and were as follows:

(1) Includes overhead pole line and underground conduit carrying primary, secondary and street lighting circuits

Reference is made to Note 12, "Regulatory Matters," and Note 13, "Commitments, Guarantees and Contingencies," of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of certain legal proceedings involving FirstEnergy.

Not applicable.

PART II

COMMON STOCK

The common stock of FirstEnergy Corp. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FE” and is traded on other registered exchanges.

HOLDERS OF COMMON STOCK

There were 63,973 holders of 570,261,104 shares of FE’s common stock as of December 31, 2021, and 63,715 holders of 570,344,389 shares of FE's common stock as of January 31, 2022. FE has historically paid quarterly cash dividends on its common stock. Dividend payments are subject to declaration by the FE Board and future dividend decisions determined by the Board may be impacted by earnings growth, cash flows, credit metrics, risks and uncertainties of the government investigations and other business conditions. Information regarding retained earnings available for payment of cash dividends is given in Note 9, "Capitalization," of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

SHAREHOLDER RETURN

The following graph shows the total cumulative return from a $100 investment on December 31, 2016, in FE’s common stock compared with the total cumulative returns of EEI’s Index of Investor-Owned Electric Utility Companies and the S&P 500.

FirstEnergy had no transactions regarding purchases of FE common stock during the fourth quarter of 2021.

FirstEnergy does not have any publicly announced plan or program for share purchases.

Forward-Looking Statements: This Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. 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,” "forecast," "target," "will," "intend," “believe,” "project," “estimate," "plan" 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, which may include the following (see Glossary of Terms for definitions of capitalized terms):

• The potential liabilities, increased costs and unanticipated developments resulting from government investigations and agreements, including those associated with compliance with or failure to comply with the DPA.

• The risks and uncertainties associated with government investigations and audits regarding HB 6 and related matters, including potential adverse impacts on federal or state regulatory matters, including, but not limited to, matters relating to rates.

• The risks and uncertainties associated with litigation, arbitration, mediation, and similar proceedings, particularly regarding HB 6 related matters, including risks associated with obtaining court approval of the definitive settlement agreement in the derivative shareholder lawsuits.

• Weather conditions, such as temperature variations and severe weather conditions, or other natural disasters affecting future operating results and associated regulatory actions or outcomes in response to such conditions.

• Legislative and regulatory developments, including, but not limited to, matters related to rates, compliance and enforcement activity.

• The ability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from our FE Forward initiative and our other strategic and financial goals, including, but not limited to, overcoming current uncertainties and challenges associated with the ongoing government investigations, executing our transmission and distribution investment plans, greenhouse gas reduction goals, controlling costs, improving our credit metrics, growing earnings, strengthening our balance sheet, and satisfying the conditions necessary to close the sale of the minority interest in FET.

• The risks associated with cyber-attacks and other disruptions to our, or our vendors’, information technology system, which may compromise our operations, and data security breaches of sensitive data, intellectual property and proprietary or personally identifiable information.

• Mitigating exposure for remedial activities associated with retired and formerly owned electric generation assets.

• The ability to access the public securities and other capital and credit markets in accordance with our financial plans, the cost of such capital and overall condition of the capital and credit markets affecting us, including the increasing number of financial institutions evaluating the impact of climate change on their investment decisions.

• The extent and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related impacts to our business, operations and financial condition resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19 including, but not limited to, disruption of businesses in our territories, additional costs, workforce impacts and governmental and regulatory responses to the pandemic, such as moratoriums on utility disconnections and workforce vaccination mandates.

• The effectiveness of our pandemic and business continuity plans, the precautionary measures we are taking on behalf of our customers, contractors and employees, our customers’ ability to make their utility payment and the potential for supply-chain disruptions.

• Actions that may be taken by credit rating agencies that could negatively affect either our access to or terms of financing or our financial condition and liquidity.

• Changes in assumptions regarding factors such as economic conditions within our territories, the reliability of our transmission and distribution system, or the availability of capital or other resources supporting identified transmission and distribution investment opportunities.

• Changes in customers’ demand for power, including, but not limited to, the impact of climate change or energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates.

• Changes in national and regional economic conditions, including recession and inflationary pressure, affecting us and/or our customers and those vendors with which we do business.

• The potential of non-compliance with debt covenants in our credit facilities.

• The ability to comply with applicable reliability standards and energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates.

• Changes to environmental laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, those related to climate change.

• Changing market conditions affecting the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of assets held in our pension trusts, or causing us to make contributions sooner, or in amounts that are larger, than currently anticipated.

• Labor disruptions by our unionized workforce.

• Changes to significant accounting policies.

• Any changes in tax laws or regulations, or adverse tax audit results or rulings.

• The risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our SEC filings.

Dividends declared from time to time on our common stock during any period may in the aggregate vary from prior periods due to circumstances considered by the FE Board at the time of the actual declarations. A security rating is not a recommendation to

buy or hold securities and is subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating.

These forward-looking statements are also qualified by, and should be read together with, the risk factors included in (a) Item 1A. Risk Factors, (b) Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and (c) other factors discussed herein and in FirstEnergy's other filings with the SEC. The foregoing review of factors also 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. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise, except as required by law, any forward-looking statements contained herein or in the information incorporated by reference as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

FIRSTENERGY CORP.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

FIRSTENERGY’S BUSINESS

FE and its subsidiaries are principally involved in the transmission, distribution and generation of electricity through its reportable segments, Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission.

The Regulated Distribution segment distributes electricity through FirstEnergy’s ten utility operating companies, serving approximately six million customers within 65,000 square miles of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, and purchases power for its POLR, SOS, SSO and default service requirements in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. This segment also controls 3,580 MWs of regulated electric generati

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The information required by Item 7A relating to market risk is set forth in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

The consolidated financial statements and supplementary data of FirstEnergy required in this item are set forth beginning on page 71.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of FirstEnergy Corp.

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of FirstEnergy Corp. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the related consolidated statements of income, of comprehensive income, of stockholders’ equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020**,** and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.

Basis for Opinions

The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Accounting for the Effects of Rate Regulation

As described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments are subject to regulation that sets the prices (rates) the Company is permitted to charge customers based on costs that the regulatory agencies determine are permitted to be recovered. At times, regulatory agencies permit the future recovery of costs that would be currently charged to expense by an unregulated company. The ratemaking process results in the recording of regulatory assets and liabilities based on anticipated future cash inflows and outflows. Management reviews the probability of recovery of regulatory assets, and settlement of regulatory liabilities, at each balance sheet date and whenever new events occur. Factors that may affect probability include changes in the regulatory environment, issuance of a regulatory commission order, or passage of new legislation. Upon material changes to these factors, where applicable, management will record new regulatory assets or liabilities and will assess whether it is probable that currently recorded regulatory assets and liabilities will be recovered or settled in future rates. As of December 31, 2021, there were $71 million of regulatory assets and $2,124 million of regulatory liabilities.

The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to management’s accounting for the effects of rate regulation is a critical audit matter are the significant audit effort in assessing the impact of regulation on accounti

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None.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

FirstEnergy has established disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure, and ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports FirstEnergy files or submits under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.

The management of FirstEnergy, with the participation of the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, have evaluated the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as of December 31, 2021. Based on that evaluation, the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of FirstEnergy have concluded that its disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2021.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Management of the FirstEnergy is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. FirstEnergy’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of FirstEnergy's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on the framework in "Internal Control-Integrated Framework" (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on that evaluation, management concluded that FirstEnergy's internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2021

The effectiveness of FirstEnergy’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report, which is included herein.

Remediation of Previous Material Weakness in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

As disclosed in FirstEnergy's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, management previously identified a material weakness in FirstEnergy's internal control over financial reporting related to its senior management failing to set an appropriate tone at the top. Management and the FE Board take FirstEnergy’s internal control over financial reporting and the integrity of its financial statements seriously. FirstEnergy completed the documentation and testing of the remedial actions and management concluded that as a result of the corrective activities implemented, the previously disclosed material weakness had been remediated as of September 30, 2021. Management, the FE Board, along with the Audit Committee, and its subcommittee, remediated the material weakness by focusing on people, training, and communication as detailed in the following remedial activities:

• the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer to improve the tone at the top;

• the termination of certain members of senior management, including FirstEnergy’s former Chief Executive Officer, for violations of certain FirstEnergy policies and its code of conduct;

• the separation of two senior members of the legal department, due to inaction and conduct that the FE Board determined was influenced by the improper tone at the top;

• the establishment of a subcommittee of FirstEnergy’s Audit Committee, who, with the FE Board, assessed the compliance program, provided recommendations, and has overseen and will continue to oversee the implementation of changes (as appropriate) in FirstEnergy’s compliance program;

• the appointment of a new Chief Legal Officer;

• the appointment of a new Vice Chair of the FE Board and Executive Director to help lead efforts to enhance FirstEnergy’s reputation with external stakeholders;

• the appointment of new independent directors to the FE Board;

• the appointment of a new Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer who is overseeing the ethics and compliance program and implementation of enhancements to the existing compliance structure and role;

• the FE Board's reinforcement of and executive team’s recommitment to the importance of setting appropriate tone at the top and the expectation to demonstrate FirstEnergy’s core values and behaviors which support an ethical and compliant culture, as well as adherence to internal control over financial reporting; and

• increased communication and training of employees with respect to:

• FirstEnergy’s commitment to ethical standards and integrity of its business procedures,

• compliance requirements,

• FirstEnergy’s code of conduct and other FirstEnergy policies, and

• availability of and the process for reporting suspected violations of law or code of conduct.

Management and the FE Board are committed to maintaining a strong internal control environment and believe the above efforts, which have been tested and are operating effectively, have remediated the material weakness.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

During the quarter ended December 31, 2021, there were no changes in internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, FirstEnergy's internal control over financial reporting.

None.

Not applicable.

PART III

The information required by Item 10 is incorporated herein by reference to FirstEnergy's 2022 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

The information required by Item 11 is incorporated herein by reference to FirstEnergy’s 2022 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

The Item 403 of Regulation S-K information required by Item 12 is incorporated herein by reference to FirstEnergy's 2022 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

The following table contains information as of December 31, 2021, regarding compensation plans for which shares of FE common stock may be issued.

(1) This number includes 1,373,989 shares subject to outstanding awards of stock based RSUs granted under the ICP 2007, ICP 2015 and ICP 2020 if paid at target for the three outstanding cycles, as well as 1,373,989 additional shares assuming maximum performance metrics are achieved for the 2019-2021, 2020-2022, and 2021-2023 cycles of stock based RSUs, 1,381 outstanding EDCP related shares to be paid in stock and 348,907 shares related to the DCPD that will be paid in stock. Not reflected in the table are 23,232 shares related to the AYE Director's Plan that will be paid in stock per the election of the recipient.

(2) There are no outstanding options, therefore, no consideration is required from participants for the exercise or vesting of any outstanding equity compensation awards.

(3) Represents shares available for issuance, assuming maximum performance metrics are achieved (or approximately 4,885,314 under ICP 2015 and 9,176,220 under ICP 2020, available assuming performance at target) for the 2019-2021, 2020-2022, and 2021-2023 cycles of stock-based RSUs, with respect to future awards under the ICP 2020 and future accruals of dividends on awards outstanding under ICP 2015 or ICP 2020. Additional shares may become available under the ICP 2015 or ICP 2020 due to cancellations, forfeitures, cash settlements or other similar circumstances with respect to outstanding awards. In addition, nominal amounts of shares may be issued in the future under the AYE Director's Plan to cover future dividends that may accrue on amounts previously deferred and payable in stock, but new awards are no longer being granted under the Allegheny plan or the ICP 2007.

(4 ) All equity compensation plans have been approved by security holders.

The information required by Item 13 is incorporated herein by reference to FirstEnergy’s 2022 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

A summary of the audit and all other fees for services rendered by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, are as follows:

(1)Professional services rendered for the audits of FirstEnergy's annual financial statements and reviews of unaudited financial statements included in FirstEnergy's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and for services in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements, including comfort letters, agreed upon procedures and consents for financings and filings made with the SEC.

(2)All other fees primarily reflect certain costs incurred as a result of the ongoing SEC investigation, software subscription fees, and accounting research license costs in 2021 and 2020. 2021 also includes fees for ESG metric and reporting assessment, and 2020 also includes fees for system implementation quality assurance services.

Tax Fees and Audit-Related Fees

There were no tax-related or other audit-related fees paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in 2021 or 2020.

Additional information required by this item is incorporated herein by reference to FirstEnergy’s 2022 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

PART IV

(a) The following documents are filed as a part of this report on Form 10-K:

1. Financial Statements:

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting for FirstEnergy Corp. is listed under Item 9A, "Controls and Procedures" herein.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 238) for FirstEnergy Corp. is listed under Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," herein.

The financial statements filed as a part of this report for FirstEnergy Corp. are listed under Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," herein.

2. Financial Statement Schedules:

N/A - Schedules not included are omitted because of the absence of conditions under which they are required or because the required information is provided in the consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto.

3. Exhibits