Capital Requirements FirstEnergy’s business is capital intensive, requiring significant resources to fund operating expenses, construction and other investment expenditures, scheduled debt maturities and interest payments, dividend payments and potential contributions to its pension plan. See "Capital Resources and Liquidity" in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information and discussion. Supply Plan Supply Chain FirstEnergy has continued to experience supply chain challenges due to economic conditions following the global pandemic. Lead times continue to increase across numerous material categories, with some as much as doubling from pre-pandemic lead times. Suppliers continue to struggle with labor shortages and raw material availability, which, along with inflationary pressure, have increased the costs and decreased the availability of certain materials, equipment and contractors. FirstEnergy continues to monitor supply chain risk as it anticipates these challenges continuing into 2023 and is mitigating these risks by: • Utilizing a cross-functional team to forecast potential impacts to operations and programs; • Expanding supply base to increase resiliency; • Enhancing the demand management and material reservation process; • Evaluating substitute products, reserving production capacity, and buying ahead in targeted categories; and • Staying updated by participating in discussions with other utilities through EEI, which has a long history of mutual assistance in the electric utility industry. Default Service Certain of the Utilities have default service obligations to provide power to non-shopping customers who have elected to continue to receive service under regulated retail tariffs. The volume of these sales can vary depending on the level of shopping that occurs and these default service plans vary by state and by service territory. JCP&L’s default service, or BGS supply, is secured through a statewide competitive procurement process approved by the NJBPU. Default service for the Ohio Companies, Pennsylvania Companies and PE's Maryland jurisdiction are provided through a competitive procurement process approved by the PUCO (under ESP IV), PPUC (under the DSP) and MDPSC (under the SOS), respectively. If any supplier fails to deliver power to any one of those Utilities’ service areas, the Utility serving that area may need to procure the required power in the market in their role as the default Load Serving Entity. West Virginia electric generation continues to be regulated by the WVPSC. Fuel Supply MP currently has coal contracts with various terms to purchase approximately 7.4 million tons of coal for the year 2023, which, along with its 2022 year-end inventory levels, accounts for nearly all of its forecasted 2023 coal requirements. MP has the ability to acquire additional tonnage through options available in its current contracts, as well as purchases through the spot market. The contracts expire at various times through 2026. This contracted coal is produced primarily from mines located in Pennsylvania, Illinois and West Virginia. In order to meet emission requirements, MP holds contracts for a variety of reagents expiring at various times through 2026, as well as the ability to purchase additional reagents through the spot market. Additionally, MP is granted emission allowances by the EPA and purchases additional allowances as needed to meet emission requirements. See "Outlook - Environmental Matters" in Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for additional information pertaining to the impact of increased environmental regulations on fuel supply. 4
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