FirstEnergy to Recognize its Employee-Driven Transformation at NYSE Closing Bell Event

AKRON, Ohio, Nov. 9, 2022 -- As FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) marks its 25^th anniversary this week, it is recognizing the 12,000 employees who are driving the company's transformation and lighting the way in the communities where they live and work.

Further reflecting FirstEnergy's long held belief that employees are essential to its success, the company has added "Employee" as a fourth pillar of its Corporate Responsibility framework. The company's commitment to its Employee, Environmental, Social and Governance (EESG) priorities is reflected in its refreshed Corporate Responsibility website, which was published this week.

Moving the interests of employees into the forefront of the company's corporate responsibility framework pays tribute to their role in executing FirstEnergy's strategy. It also underscores the company's commitment to building a safe, inclusive, equitable and rewarding work environment where employees can thrive and diversity and innovation drive continuous improvement.

"We are transforming FirstEnergy by revitalizing our corporate culture, strengthening our financial profile and optimizing our performance through customer-centered investments in innovation and technology," Somerhalder said. "Our progress is a testament to the hard work and passion of our 12,000 employees. They have stepped up time and again to serve our customers, meet our commitments to stakeholders and stay focused on strengthening our company for the future."

Corporate Responsibility Website and Climate Risk Report

The refreshed Corporate Responsibility website is structured around the company's EESG initiatives and describes the company's high standards for corporate governance; commitment to building an engaged and empowered workforce; efforts to protect the environment; and work to provide safe, reliable electric service to customers as it improves lives in its communities. The website also provides data and other resources that track the company's progress as it strives to achieve its vision and goals.

This includes an updated Climate Report. Following guidance from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the report details FirstEnergy's climate governance practices, risk management processes, climate targets and decarbonization efforts. It also provides climate risk and opportunity insights from low- and high-carbon scenario analyses.

It also describes the alignment of FirstEnergy's business and climate strategies and examines its progress toward its climate goals. As of year-end 2021, FirstEnergy achieved a 12% reduction in companywide Scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its 2019 baseline, progressing toward its goals of a 30% decrease in GHG emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

In addition, the company continues investing in its distribution and transmission systems to enable the evolution to a low-carbon future and support our climate strategy. Most recently, FirstEnergy's Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) subsidiary was awarded a contract of more than $720 million to connect clean energy generated by New Jersey's offshore wind farms to the power grid.

To enhance oversight between climate-related matters and business strategy, this year FirstEnergy established a management-level Climate Subcommittee comprised of leaders from across the company. The subcommittee is designed to facilitate business unit engagement in climate-related initiatives and monitors and assesses FirstEnergy's climate-related progress against peer performance and stakeholder expectations.

"Climate change is among the most important issues of our time, and we're committed to doing our part to enable a low-carbon future for the communities we serve," Somerhalder said. "We see our customer-focused transmission and distribution investments as key to reliably supporting the energy transition. And we believe our company is well-positioned to mitigate risks and act on opportunities across multiple climate scenarios."

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 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 on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com.

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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 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 dismissal of the derivative shareholder lawsuits; changes in national and regional economic conditions, including recession, inflationary pressure, supply chain disruptions, higher energy costs, and workforce impacts, 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; the changing market conditions affecting the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of assets held in our pension trusts may negatively impact our forecasted growth rate, results of operations, 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; 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, including, but not limited to, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, 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 Corp.'s common stock during any period may in the aggregate vary from prior periods due to circumstances considered by FirstEnergy Corp.'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 Corp.'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 Corp.'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 Corp. 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.