FirstEnergy Plant Sets National Generation Record

AKRON, Ohio, May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FirstEnergy announced today that its W. H. Sammis Plant Unit 2 has become the longest- running single-turbine steam generating unit in the nation's history, surpassing a continuous-operation record of 819 days set by TVA's Widows Creek Unit 3 just two weeks earlier.

"This distinction belongs to everyone at the Sammis Plant who worked hard to ensure safe and reliable operations for more than two years," said FirstEnergy Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Richard R. Grigg. "During this run, Sammis Unit 2 has produced more than 2.6 million megawatt-hours of electricity -- enough to power the equivalent of nearly 300,000 customer homes for a year."

This is the second time a FirstEnergy plant has held this record. For nearly 30 years, the company's Bay Shore Unit 4 held the record for continuous operations -- 713 days -- until September 2004, when it was surpassed by TVA's Widows Creek unit. The Sammis Plant record was reached Saturday, April 30.

"As a designated load-following generating unit, Unit 2 is operated to follow customer usage patterns," said plant Director Frank Lubich. "Keeping it running for more than 800 days is a significant achievement that requires constant maintenance, operational oversight and attention to safety. It wouldn't be possible without the hard work, commitment and expertise of our dedicated employees."

The W. H. Sammis Plant, located on the Ohio River in Stratton, Ohio, has seven coal-based units with a combined capacity of 2,233 megawatts (MW). Unit 2, which has a capacity of 180 MW, began operating in 1960.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services. Its seven electric utility operating companies comprise the nation's fifth largest investor-owned electric system, based on 4.4 million customers served within a 36,100-square-mile area of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements based on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. These statements typically contain, but are not limited to, the terms "anticipate," "potential," "expect," "believe," "estimate" and similar words. Actual results may differ materially due to the speed and nature of increased competition and deregulation in the electric utility industry, economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins, changes in markets for energy services, changing energy and commodity market prices, replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or inadequately hedged, the continued ability of our regulated utilities to collect transition and other charges, maintenance costs being higher than anticipated, legislative and regulatory changes (including revised environmental requirements), the receipt of approval from and entry of a final order by the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio on the pending settlement agreement resolving the New Source Review litigation and the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures (including that such amounts could be higher than anticipated) or levels of emission reductions related to this settlement, adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes (including revocation of necessary licenses or operating permits, fines or other enforcement actions and remedies) of governmental investigations and oversight, including by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Attorney's Office and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as disclosed in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, generally, and with respect to the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station outage and heightened scrutiny at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in particular, the availability and cost of capital, the continuing availability and operation of generating units, our inability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from strategic goals, our ability to improve electric commodity margins and to experience growth in the distribution business, our ability to access the public securities and other capital markets, further investigation into the causes of the August 14, 2003 regional power outage and the outcome, cost and other effects of present and potential legal and administrative proceedings and claims related to the outage, the final outcome in the proceeding related to FirstEnergy's Application for a Rate Stabilization Plan in Ohio, the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and other similar factors. FirstEnergy expressly disclaims any current intention to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.