"There's blood in the water," Jones said in an October interview.

He added, "We've reduced benefits, we've reduced 401(k) matches, we froze wages. We've done a lot of things to try and offset lost revenue, but couldn't offset it entirely … We're evaluating everything we do as a company to try and find a way to close that gap. Because (what's been done so far) is not enough to get us into the position with the credit rating agencies that we need to be in."

Pleasants, currently owned by a Mon Power sister company, Allegheny Energy Supply, is an aging, coal-fired plant that hasn’t been generating the returns investors want in Ohio’s deregulated energy marketplace. FirstEnergy CEO Charles E. Jones, on at least two occasions in 2016, told analysts the company wanted to shift plants like Pleasants that weren’t making investors enough money in Ohio into West Virginia’s regulated market, saying, “I think later this year, they’ll start (looking) at it seriously, and it’s up to (the West Virginia Public Service Commission) to decide, would Pleasants be the appropriate solution.”

"This is about getting the best and brightest in the same room to share their ideas for taking West Virginia on a rocket ride to the top."

Aug 17, 2016       
Becky S. Alexander
2936 Ironwood Dr
Akron OH 44312-5809
Contributor's job: homemaker
Where contributor works: self
 $1,000.00

Aug 17, 2016     
Anthony J Alexander, Sr
2936 Ironwood Dr
Akron OH 44312-5809
Contributor's job: Executive Chairman
Where contributor works: First Energy
$1,000.00

If the Companies determine in any annual PJM Base Residual Auction (“BRA”) that their combined capacity obligations for the delivery year covered by the BRA (“Delivery Year”) exceed the Companies’ owned or contracted-for capacity resources for the Delivery Year by 100 MW or more (“Capacity Shortfall”), then not later than the end of the calendar year following the BRA, the Companies will develop an RFP for capacity resources to address the Capacity Shortfall and submit the RFP to the Commission and the Parties for their review and comment. The RFP will allow proposals from both supply-side and demand-side resources.

Mon Power’s Long Term Load Forecast indicates a capacity shortfall starting in 2016, with the shortfall exceeding 700 MW by 2020 and extending to over 850 MW by 2027.

We will continue to seek opportunities both within the competitive realm and the states to further de-risk the business and convert megawatts from competitive markets to a regulated or regulated-like construct.

We also plan to work with the West Virginia Public Service Commission when they are ready to address the generation shortfall included in Mon Power's integrated resource plan.

So we previously filed the IRP. It showed a need for generation going out a couple of years from now. But that case right now is concluded. So there is nothing that would, unless we were to file something, initiate something, that would come out of that case. So we would be looking as we go forward and continue to monitor the forecast for that company to see how we might want to present something consistent with the IRP in terms of bringing additional generation to Mon Power.

Michael Lapides - Goldman Sachs & Co.

Got it. So there's no formal like RFP process that's about to kick off or that will be undertaken in 2016 or 2017?

Leila L. Vespoli - Executive Vice President, Markets & Chief Legal Officer

Correct. There's no time line associated with that. We would initiate it when we believe it to be the appropriate time.

The decisive regulator makes decisions (1) required by the public interest, (2) when the public interest requires it, (3) regardless of discomfort felt, (4) using a logical method and an active approach.

At this time, however, we do not see any short-term solutions to the current challenging market situation. Longer-term, we do not believe competitive generation is a good fit for FirstEnergy and are focused regulated operations. And we cannot put investors and our company at risk as we wait for the country and PJM to address the issues with the current construct.

The best and most appropriate manner for this Commission to fully examine potential supply options would be with the use of a broad, competitively neutral RFP in which multiple suppliers could actively compete to meet the needs of West Virginia consumers. This would ensure that all available supply-side and demand-side resources are transparently reviewed in accordance with the state’s applicable rules and laws.

The first key issue for incremental resource procurements is the design of safeguards to prevent potential improper self-dealing by the utility. Because the utility may financially benefit from the selection of its own self-build offer or a proposal from an affiliate, safeguards are necessary to ensure that the process is not improperly tilted toward the selection of such offers.

Todd Meyers, a spokesperson for MonPower, responded to questions about the study by saying the company believes the purchase benefits their customers and that it supports coal mining.

“It continues to provide reliable, low-cost power to our customers, and has preserved the opportunity to use more than 5 million tons of West Virginia produced coal annually, supporting hundreds of coal miners with solid, family-sustaining wages,” he said.

“We cannot put investors and our company at risk.”

“Is it frustrating that we’re shutting down tens of thousands of megawatts of generation in our country that’s got life left in it because of the way this market is working?” Jones said. “That is very frustrating to me.”

As a resident of a "state farther east" proposed to be the beneficiary of this senseless sacrifice of Missourians, I am not in favor of importing renewables from other states. For years, West Virginians made a sacrifice to export energy to states to the east. Now that the bottom has fallen out of that market, West Virginia is left with nothing to show for its years of sacrifice. We must rebuild our energy economy and that includes building our own renewable energy generators for local use. We cannot afford to ship our energy dollars out of state to import Midwest wind, but must put them to work in our own communities to promote local jobs and economic development. Grain Belt Express is not wanted in Eastern states.

Big Transmission never did and never will make sense. Let’s look at a half-dozen reasons why: 1) the laws of physics, 2) higher reliability risk, 3) stricter contingency limits, 4) lumpiness and investment risk, 5) rigidity of source and sink, and 6) better alternatives.

It is difficult to apportion the demise of PATH among reduced load growth, the Mt. Storm-Doubs alternative, new generation, and sophisticated statelevel opposition. However, it is fair to observe that reduced load growth had only postponed PATH in the past (three times). What was different in 2010 was the emergence of the Mt. Storm-Doubs  alternative, and the focus of a state regulator on that alternative.

But certainly when Big Transmission is dependent upon market conditions the lumpiness and risk factors are all the more daunting. Big Transmission somehow needs to bring together generation resources and market demand – to the exclusion of alternatives – to forge a level of commitment that will last for many years. That’s a prerequisite for financing. So the entities at each end need to perceive such a compelling business proposition that they will forego other alternatives and cast their fate with Big Transmission. That’s a tough sell.

FERC requires that utilities interconnect all new generation. So a new generator is assured of being able to interconnect its project to the utility serving the territory it is located in; the issue is solely how much money and time it will take for the interconnection. Given this legally assured ability to access the grid through the resident utility, market-based Big Transmission is effectively competing with that utility and thus must offer substantial value added.