FirstEnergy Corp.

For Release: July 22, 2021

76 South Main Street
Akron, Ohio 44308
www.firstenergycorp.com

News Media Contact: Investor Relations Contact:

Jennifer Young Irene Prezelj
(216) 337-8789 (330) 384-3859

FirstEnergy Reaches Agreement to Resolve Department of Justice

Investigation
FirstEnergy resolves previously disclosed matter, building on meaningful actions already
taken to enhance compliance program, strengthen leadership team, and implement more
robust oversight of governmental affairs engagement

AKRON, Ohio – FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) today announced that it has entered into an
agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio to resolve the
previously disclosed investigation. The deferred prosecution agreement has been filed in
federal court.

“FirstEnergy’s Board of Directors moved swiftly and decisively to investigate this matter
and, along with the management team, has cooperated and will continue to fully cooperate
with the U.S. Attorney’s Office that is investigating the matter,” said Donald T. Misheff,
nonexecutive chairman of FirstEnergy’s board of directors. “This resolution and the actions we
have agreed to implement build on the substantial steps we have taken over the past several
months to strengthen our leadership team, ensure we have a best-in-class compliance
program, and significantly modify our approach to political engagement as we work to regain
the trust of our stakeholders. We thank the office of the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of Ohio for its professionalism and engagement with FirstEnergy throughout
this process.”

“FirstEnergy’s core values and behaviors include integrity, openness, and trust. As an
organization, we are redoubling our commitment to live up to these values and the standards
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that we know our stakeholders expect of us,” said Steven E. Strah, FirstEnergy president and
chief executive officer. “Moving forward, we are intently focused on fostering a strong culture
of compliance and ethics, starting at the top, and ensuring we have robust processes in place to
prevent the type of misconduct that occurred in the past.”

Under the three-year deferred prosecution agreement, FirstEnergy has agreed to pay a
penalty of $230 million, and has agreed to the government’s filing of a single charge of
conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. The charge will be dismissed, provided
FirstEnergy abides by all terms of the agreement. The payment of the $230 million fine will be
split equally between the U.S. Treasury and the Ohio Development Service Agency for the
benefit of Ohio utility customers. The company expects to record a charge in this amount for
the second quarter this year. This fine will not be recovered in rates or charged to customers.

From the onset of the investigation, as noted in the agreement reached with the U.S.
Attorney’s Office, FirstEnergy provided substantial cooperation with the investigation, including
conducting a thorough internal investigation; proactively identifying issues and facts that would
likely be of interest to the government; sharing information that would not have been
otherwise available to the government; and making such material available to the government
on an expedited basis.

FirstEnergy has taken substantial remedial actions across four broad categories,
including employment consequences for executives and employees who engaged in
misconduct; enhancements to the company’s compliance program; improvements to the
company’s policies and procedures; and monetary remediation to ratepayers. Specific efforts,
detailed by the government in the resolution agreement as part of its decision to defer
prosecution, include, among others:

• Establishing an executive director role for the Board of Directors, which supports the
development of enhanced controls and governance policies and procedures;
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• Hiring a new chief legal officer, who oversees the company’s legal and internal audit
departments;
• Separating the chief legal officer and chief ethics and compliance officer (CECO)
functions, and hiring a new CECO who reports directly to the Audit Committee of the
Board and administratively to the chief legal officer;
• Working to establish a culture of ethics, integrity, and accountability at every level of
the organization;
• Creating a Compliance Oversight Subcommittee of the Audit Committee to implement
compliance recommendations received from outside counsel; and
• Reviewing and revising political activity and lobbying/consulting practices, including
requiring robust disclosures about lobbying activities.

The company will continue to build a best-in-class compliance program and, in

accordance with today’s agreement, provide annual reports to the United States Attorney for
the Southern District of Ohio. Moving forward, the company continues to take important steps
to ensure a strong culture of compliance.

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 more than 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.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 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: potential liabilities, increased costs and unanticipated developments resulting
from governmental investigations and agreements, including those associated with compliance with or failure to comply with
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the DPA with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the S.D. Ohio; the results of the internal investigation and evaluation of our controls
framework and remediation of our material weakness in internal control over financial reporting; the risks and uncertainties
associated with government investigations regarding Ohio House Bill 6 and related matters including potential adverse impacts
on federal or state regulatory matters including, but not limited to, matters relating to rates; the potential of non-compliance
with debt covenants in our credit facilities due to matters associated with the government investigations regarding Ohio House
Bill 6 and related matters; the risks and uncertainties associated with litigation, arbitration, mediation and similar proceedings;
legislative and regulatory developments, including, but not limited to, matters related to rates, compliance and enforcement
activity; 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, maintaining financial flexibility, 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, strengthening our balance sheet and growing
earnings; economic and weather conditions affecting future operating results, such as a recession, significant weather events
and other natural disasters, and associated regulatory events or actions in response to such conditions; 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 COVID-19 and the 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 and governmental and regulatory responses to the pandemic; the effectiveness of our pandemic
and business continuity plans, the precautionary measures we are taking on behalf of our customers, contractors and
employees, our customers’ ability to make their utility payment and the potential for supply-chain disruptions; 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 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, the impact of
climate change or energy efficiency and peak demand reduction mandates; changes in national and regional economic
conditions affecting us and/or our major industrial and commercial customers or others with which we do business; the risks
associated with cyber-attacks and other disruptions to our information technology system, which may compromise our
operations, and data security breaches of sensitive data, intellectual property and proprietary or personally identifiable
information; 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;
changing market conditions affecting the measurement of certain liabilities and the value of assets held in our pension trusts
and other trust funds, or causing us to make contributions sooner, or in amounts that are larger, than currently anticipated;
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 SEC filings. 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, any subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q, and subsequent 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.

(072221)