FirstEnergy Suffers Steep Losses, Will Close Massive Coal Plant
FirstEnergy Corp. bled $ 2.64 billion from its competitive businesses over 2017, financial losses exacerbated by marked declines in contract sales, higher operating expenses, and costs associated with asset impairment and plant exit.
The Akron, Ohio–based company, which in January received a $ 2.5 billion equity injection from four private investment groups to boost its transition to a fully regulated utility company, on February 20 reported full-year 2017 losses of $ 1.7 billion on revenues of $ 14 billion. In 2016, the company recorded losses of $ 6.2 billion on revenues of $ 14.6 billion.
The losses, though significant, are indicative of progress for the company, which has, since 2016, announced the sale or closure of 2,471 MW of competitive generation operated in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Closure of a 1.3-GW Coal-Fired Power Plant
On February 16, FirstEnergy announced it had notified PJM Interconnection of a plan to deactivate its 1979-built Pleasants Power Station in Willow Island, West Virginia. The 1,300-MW plant will be sold or closed on January 1, 2019.…