President and Chief Executive Officer
Steven E. Strah to
Retire
John W. Somerhalder Appointed Interim
President and Chief Executive Officer
Board to Initiate Search for Permanent
Successor
AKRON,
Ohio, Sept. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy
Corp. (NYSE: FE) today announced that John
W. Somerhalder II, chair of the FirstEnergy Board of
Directors, has been named interim president and chief executive
officer (CEO), effective September 16,
2022. Mr. Somerhalder's appointment follows Steven E. Strah's decision to retire as
president and CEO of FirstEnergy and as a member of the Board of
Directors.
Mr. Somerhalder will continue to serve as chair of the
FirstEnergy Board and work closely with the company's executive
team. The FirstEnergy Board will commence a search of external
candidates to identify a permanent CEO. The Board of Directors has
completed its previously announced management review.
"I look forward to working with the company's executive team and
dedicated FirstEnergy employees to continue delivering exceptional
value to our customers and shareholders," said Mr. Somerhalder.
"With the Board's continued support, I welcome the opportunity to
lead the company during this transition and oversee the continued
execution of our strategy to become a more resilient and
forward-looking company, positioning the business for long-term
stability and success."
"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Steve for his
many contributions and years of service to FirstEnergy and wish him
well in his next chapter," said Lisa
Winston Hicks, lead independent director of the FirstEnergy
Board. "In our search, we will look to identify a visionary leader
to continue driving strong performance across the business, while
continuing to foster an environment of uncompromising integrity and
shared responsibility to execute on the company's strategic
priorities. As we conduct this search for a permanent CEO, we are
fortunate to have a leader of John's caliber and experience to step
into the role on an interim basis to ensure that the company
continues building on its strong momentum."
"We have been encouraged to see the company's ongoing efforts to
strengthen compliance, operational excellence and its balance
sheet," said Sean Klimczak,
Blackstone's Global Head of Infrastructure and FirstEnergy
director. "They serve as an important step in FirstEnergy's path to
delivering exceptional customer service and ensuring transparency
with its partners. We are excited about the company's growth
potential and look forward to continuing our partnership as they
build upon this momentum."
"With the company's operational momentum and portfolio of
irreplaceable assets, we believe FirstEnergy is well-positioned to
capitalize on long-term sustainable investments to meet customers'
needs while growing value for shareholders," said Andrew Teno, portfolio manager of Icahn Capital
LP and FirstEnergy director. "We look forward to continuing to
support the company as it executes its transformation."
"It has been a great honor to be part of the FirstEnergy family
for more than 38 years," Mr. Strah said. "I want to express my
gratitude to the extremely dedicated employees, as well as our
incredibly talented management team. I believe the future holds
great opportunity for this organization."
Financial Update
FirstEnergy's outlook for 2022 continues to be strong, and the
company expects results in the upper half of the guidance range
provided to the investment community on its second quarter earnings
call in July. In addition, the company continues to be focused on
accelerating its balance sheet improvement efforts in order to
achieve credit metrics consistent with those of premier utilities.
The company expects to achieve this through organic growth in
operating cash flow, as well as an additional, EPS-accretive
transaction involving a minority interest in a transmission or
distribution asset.
About John
Somerhalder
Mr. Somerhalder, age 66, has served as chair of the Board since
May 2022, and previously served as
vice chair and executive director of the company from March 2021 to May
2022. Prior to joining FirstEnergy, Mr. Somerhalder served
as interim president and chief executive officer of CenterPoint
Energy, Inc., an electric and natural gas utility serving several
U.S. markets, from February 2020 to
July 2020, and served as a member of
the CenterPoint Energy Board of Directors from 2016 through
July 2020. Mr. Somerhalder also
served as interim president and chief executive officer of Colonial
Pipeline Company, a U.S. refined products pipeline company, from
February 2017 to October 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Somerhalder
served as president and chief executive officer of AGL Resources
Inc., an energy services holding company in the southeastern
United States, from March 2006 through his retirement in December 2015, and served as chairman of the
company's Board from November 2007
until December 2015. Prior to joining
AGL Resources, Mr. Somerhalder served in a number of roles with El
Paso Corporation, a publicly traded natural gas and related energy
products provider, where he spent almost 30 years, starting his
career as an engineer and progressing through leadership roles
before being named president of El Paso Pipeline Group and
executive vice president of El Paso Corporation. Mr. Somerhalder
also previously held directorships with Gulfport Energy Corp.,
Crestwood Equity Partners LP, Enable Midstream Partners, LP, and
SunCoke Energy Partners GP LLC.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its ten electric distribution companies
form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving customers in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West
Virginia, Maryland and
New York. The company's
transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com.
Follow FirstEnergy and its utilities on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp,
@ToledoEdison, @IlluminatingCo, @OhioEdison, @MonPowerWV, @JCP_L,
@Penn_Power, @Penelec, @Met_Ed, @PotomacEdison, @W_Penn_Power.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release
includes forward-looking statements 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: 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 Deferred Prosecution
Agreement entered into on July 21,
2021 with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern
District of Ohio; the risks and
uncertainties associated with government investigations and audits
regarding Ohio House Bill 6, as passed by Ohio's 133rd General Assembly ("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 settlement
agreement in the derivative shareholder lawsuits and risks
associated with securities litigation; 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; 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,
cybersecurity, and climate change; 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,
and strengthening our balance sheet; changing market conditions
affecting the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of
assets held in our pension trusts may negatively impact our results
of operations and related guidance, and may also cause us to make
contributions to our pension sooner or in amounts that are larger
than currently anticipated; 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, supply chain
disruptions, additional costs, workforce impacts and governmental
and regulatory responses to the pandemic, such as the moratoriums
on utility disconnections and workforce vaccination mandates
imposed at varying points throughout the pandemic; 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, economic conditions, the
impact of climate change, or energy efficiency and peak demand
reduction mandates; 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; 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; and the
risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings. Dividends
declared from time to time on FirstEnergy's common stock during any
period may in the aggregate vary from prior periods due to
circumstances considered by FirstEnergy's Board of Directors 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
FirstEnergy's filings with the SEC, including, but not limited to,
the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q, and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and
Current Reports on Form 8-K. 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 FirstEnergy's
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. FirstEnergy expressly
disclaims 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.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.