UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D. C. 20549
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
PURSUANT TO
SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of
Report (Date of earliest event reported) May 18, 2005
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 |
|
|
|
|
1-2578 |
OHIO
EDISON COMPANY |
34-0437786 |
|
(An
Ohio Corporation) |
|
|
c/o
FirstEnergy Corp. |
|
|
76
South Main Street |
|
|
Akron,
OH 44308 |
|
|
Telephone
(800)736-3402 |
|
|
|
|
1-2323 |
THE
CLEVELAND ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING COMPANY |
34-0150020 |
|
(An
Ohio Corporation) |
|
|
c/o
FirstEnergy Corp. |
|
|
76
South Main Street |
|
|
Akron,
OH 44308 |
|
|
Telephone
(800)736-3402 |
|
|
|
|
1-3583 |
THE
TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY |
34-4375005 |
|
(An
Ohio Corporation) |
|
|
c/o
FirstEnergy Corp. |
|
|
76
South Main Street |
|
|
Akron,
OH 44308 |
|
|
Telephone
(800)736-3402 |
|
Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following
provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
[ ] Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[ ]
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ]
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act
(17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 8.01
Other Events
On May 18,
2005, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) granted the accounting
authority for FirstEnergy Corp.'s Ohio electric utility operating companies
(Companies) to defer incremental transmission and ancillary service-related
charges incurred as a participant in the Midwest Independent Transmission System
Operator, Inc. (MISO).
As disclosed by
FirstEnergy and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Ohio Edison Company (OE), The
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) and The Toledo Edison Company
(TE), in their respective Forms 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004,
the Companies filed an Application with the PUCO on December 30, 2004
requesting permission to defer the incremental charges incurred from
October 1, 2003 to the date on which the Companies begin to recover these
costs in rates.
In its Finding and
Order, the PUCO authorized the Companies to defer the incremental MISO charges
incurred after December 30, 2004 through January 1, 2006. The PUCO denied the
Companies' request to defer the expenses incurred between October 1, 2003
through December 30, 2004. The Finding and Order is available at the PUCO's
web site, www.puco.ohio.gov, by referencing
case number 04-1931-EL-AAM.
For 2005,
FirstEnergy estimates the incremental costs to be approximately $24 million,
with approximately one-half of the costs related to each of OE and CEI. The
costs are expected to be immaterial to TE. The deferral will amount to
approximately $8 million for each of the second, third and fourth quarters of
2005.
On May 18,
2005, FirstEnergy issued a press release and Letter to the Investment Community
that provide additional related details. The press release and Letter to the
Investment Community are attached hereto as Exhibits 99.1 and 99.2,
respectively, and incorporated by reference.
Item 9.01
Financial Statements and Exhibits
(c)
Exhibits.
Exhibit
No. |
Description |
99.1 |
Press release
issued by FirstEnergy Corp., dated May 18, 2005 |
99.2 |
Letter to the
Investment Community, dated May 18, 2005 |
Forward-Looking
Statement: This Form 8-K includes forward-looking statements based on
information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties. These statements typically contain, but are not
limited to, the terms "anticipate," "potential," "expect," "believe," "estimate"
and similar words. Actual results may differ materially due to the speed and
nature of increased competition and deregulation in the electric utility
industry, economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins,
changes in markets for energy services, changing energy and commodity market
prices, replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or inadequately
hedged, the continued ability of our regulated utilities to collect transition
and other charges, maintenance costs being higher than anticipated, legislative
and regulatory changes (including revised environmental requirements), the
receipt of approval from and entry of a final order by the U.S. District Court,
Southern District of Ohio on the pending settlement agreement resolving the New
Source Review litigation and the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the
capital expenditures (including that such amounts could be higher than
anticipated) or levels of emission reductions related to this settlement,
adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes (including revocation of
necessary licenses or operating permits, fines or other enforcement actions and
remedies) of governmental investigations and oversight, including by the
Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Attorney's Office and the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission as disclosed in the registrants' Securities and
Exchange Commission filings, generally, and with respect to the Davis-Besse
Nuclear Power Station outage and heightened scrutiny at the Perry Nuclear Power
Plant in particular, the availability and cost of capital, the continuing
availability and operation of generating units, the inability to accomplish or
realize anticipated benefits from strategic goals, the ability to improve
electric commodity margins and to experience growth in the distribution
business, the ability to access the public securities and other capital markets,
further investigation into the causes of the August 14, 2003, regional power
outage and the outcome, cost and other effects of present and potential legal
and administrative proceedings and claims related to the outage, the final
outcome in the proceeding related to FirstEnergy's Application for a Rate
Stabilization Plan in Ohio, the risks and other factors discussed from time to
time in the registrants' Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and other
similar factors. The registrants expressly disclaim any current intention to
update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.