Failure to Provide Safe and Reliable Service and Equipment Could Result in Serious Injury or Loss of Life That May Harm Our Business Reputation and Adversely Affect Our Operating Results We are committed to providing safe and reliable service and equipment in our franchised service territories. Meeting this commitment requires the expenditure of significant capital resources. However, our employees, contractors and the general public may be exposed to dangerous environments due to the nature of our operations. Failure to provide safe and reliable service and equipment due to various factors, including equipment failure, accidents and weather, could result in serious injury or loss of life that may harm our business reputation and adversely affect our operating results through reduced revenues, increased capital and operating costs, litigation or the imposition of penalties/fines or other adverse regulatory outcomes. The Outcome of Litigation, Arbitration, Mediation, and Similar Proceedings Involving Our Business, or That of One or More of Our Operating Subsidiaries, Is Unpredictable and an Adverse Decision in Any Material Proceeding Could Have a Material Adverse Effect on Our Financial Condition and Results of Operations We are involved in a number of litigation, arbitration, mediation, and similar proceedings. These and other matters may divert financial and management resources that would otherwise be used to benefit our operations. Further, no assurances can be given that the resolution of these matters will be favorable to us. If certain matters were ultimately resolved unfavorably to us, the results of operations and financial condition of FirstEnergy could be materially adversely impacted. In addition, we are sometimes subject to investigations and inquiries by various state and federal regulators due to the heavily regulated nature of our industry. Any material inquiry or investigation could potentially result in an adverse ruling against us, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and operating results. We Face Certain Human Resource Risks Associated with Potential Labor Disruptions and/or with the Availability of Trained and Qualified Labor to Meet Our Future Staffing Requirements We are continually challenged to find ways to balance the retention of our aging skilled workforce while recruiting new talent to mitigate losses in critical knowledge and skills due to retirements. Workforce demographic issues challenge employers nationwide and are of particular concern to the electric utility industry. Over the next three years, 34% percent of our current employees will meet the eligibility requirements to retire. Our costs, including costs for contractors to replace employees and productivity costs, may rise. Failure to hire and adequately train replacement employees, including the transfer of significant internal historical knowledge and expertise to the new employees, may adversely affect our ability to manage and operate our business. If we are unable to successfully recruit and retain an appropriately qualified workforce, our results of operations could be negatively affected. Additionally, a significant number of our physical workforce are represented by unions. While we believe that our relations with our employees are generally fair, we cannot provide assurances that the company will be completely free of labor disruptions such as work stoppages, work slowdowns, union organizing campaigns, strikes, lockouts or that any labor disruption will be favorably resolved. Mitigating these risks could require additional financial commitments and the failure to prevent labor disruptions and retain and/or attract trained and qualified labor could have an adverse effect on our business. Significant Increases in Our Operation and Maintenance Expenses, Including Our Health Care and Pension Costs, Could Adversely Affect Our Future Earnings and Liquidity We continually focus on limiting and reducing where possible, our operation and maintenance expenses. However, we expect to continue to face increased cost pressures related to operation and maintenance expenses, including in the areas of health care and pension costs. We have experienced health care cost inflation in recent years, and we expect our cash outlay for health care costs, including prescription drug coverage, to continue to increase despite measures that we have taken requiring employees and retirees to bear a higher portion of the costs of their health care benefits. The measurement of our expected future health care and pension obligations and costs is highly dependent on a variety of assumptions, many of which relate to factors beyond our control. These assumptions include investment returns, interest rates, discount rates, health care cost trends, benefit design changes, salary increases, the demographics of plan participants and regulatory requirements. While we anticipate that our operation and maintenance expenses will continue to increase, if actual results differ materially from our assumptions, our costs could be significantly higher than expected which could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. Changes in Technology and Regulatory Policies May Make Our Facilities Significantly Less Competitive and Adversely Affect Our Results of Operations Traditionally, electricity is generated at large, central station generation facilities. This method results in economies of scale and lower unit costs than newer generation technologies such as fuel cells, microturbines, windmills and photovoltaic solar cells. It is possible that advances in newer generation technologies will make newer generation technologies more cost-effective, or that legislation addressing climate change at the federal or state level together with changes in regulatory policy will create incentives or benefits that otherwise make these newer generation technologies even more competitive with central station electricity production. To the extent that newer generation technologies are connected directly to load, bypassing the transmission and distribution systems, potential impacts could include decreased transmission and distribution revenues, stranded assets and 16
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