UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) November 19, 2010
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Commission
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Registrant; State of Incorporation;
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I.R.S. Employer
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File Number
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Address; and Telephone Number
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Identification No.
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333-21011
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FIRSTENERGY CORP.
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34-1843785
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(An Ohio Corporation)
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76 South Main Street
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Akron, OH 44308
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Telephone (800)736-3402
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Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2.):
[ ] Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
[ ] Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
[ ] Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 8.01 Other Events
FirstEnergy Corp., through its FirstEnergy Ventures Corp. wholly-owned subsidiary, has a 50% interest in Global Mining Group LLC, a joint venture that owns Signal Peak Energy LLC (Signal Peak) which is a company that constructed and operates the Bull Mountain Mine No. 1 (Mine), an underground coal mine near Roundup, Montana. The operation of the Mine is subject to regulation by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act).
Section 1503 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), which was enacted on July 21, 2010, contains new reporting requirements regarding mine safety, including, to the extent applicable, disclosing in periodic reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 the receipt of certain notifications from the MSHA.
On November 19, 2010, Signal Peak received a letter from MSHA placing it on notice that the Mine has a potential pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards under Section 104(e) of the Mine Act. If implemented, Section 104(e) requires all subsequent violations designated as Significant and Substantial be issued as closure orders with all persons withdrawn from the affected area except those necessary to correct the violation.
In addition, Signal Peak received the following notices of violation and proposed assessments for the Mine under the Mine Act during the three months ended September 30, 2010:
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Signal Peak
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Number of Citations and Orders for Violations of Mandatory Health or
Safety Standards under 104 *
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64
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Number of Orders Issued under 104(b) *
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0
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Number of Citations and Orders for Unwarrantable Failure to Comply
with Mandatory Health or Safety Standards under 104(d) *
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0
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Number of Flagrant Violations under 110(b)(2) *
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0
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Number of Imminent Danger Orders Issued under 107(a) *
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0
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Total Dollar Value of Proposed Assessments
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$30,260
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Number of Mining-related Fatalities
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0
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MSHA written notices under Mine Act section 104(e) * of a pattern of
violation of mandatory health or safety standards or of the potential
to have such a pattern
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0
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Pending Mine Safety Commission legal actions (including any
contested citations issued)
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60
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* References to sections under the Mine Act
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The filing of this report is not an admission by FirstEnergy that it controls Signal Peak or that Signal Peak is FirstEnergy’s subsidiary for purposes of Section 1503 or for any other purpose.
More detailed information about the Mine, including safety-related data, can be found at MSHA’s website, www.MSHA.gov. Signal Peak operates the Mine under the MSHA identification number 2401950.
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Forward-Looking Statements: This Form 8-K includes forward-looking statements based on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. 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," "believe," "estimate" 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. Actual results may differ materially due to the speed and nature of increased competition in the electric utility industry and legislative and regulatory changes affecting how generation rates will be determined following the expiration of existing rate plans in Pennsylvania, the impact of the regulatory process on the pending matters in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, business and regulatory impacts from American Transmission Systems, Incorporated's realignment into PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins, changes in markets for energy services, changing energy and commodity market prices and availability, financial derivative reforms that could increase our liquidity needs and collateral costs, replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or inadequately hedged, the continued ability of FirstEnergy's regulated utilities to collect transition and other charges or to recover increased transmission costs, operating and maintenance costs being higher than anticipated, other legislative and regulatory changes, revised environmental requirements, including possible greenhouse gas emission and coal combustion regulations, the potential impacts of the U.S. Court of Appeals' July 11, 2008 decision requiring revisions to the Clean Air Interstate Rules and the scope of any laws, rules or regulations that may ultimately take their place, the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures needed to, among other things, implement the Air Quality Compliance Plan (including that such amounts could be higher than anticipated or that certain generating units may need to be shut down) or levels of emission reductions related to the Consent Decree resolving the New Source Review litigation or other similar potential regulatory initiatives or actions, adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes (including, but not limited to, the revocation of necessary licenses or operating permits and oversight) by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, any impact resulting from the receipt by Signal Peak of the Department of Labor’s notice of a potential pattern of violations at Bull Mountain Mine No. 1, Metropolitan Edison Company's and Pennsylvania Electric Company's transmission service charge filings with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the continuing availability of generating units and their ability to operate at or near full capacity, the ability to comply with applicable state and federal reliability standards and energy efficiency mandates, the ability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from strategic goals (including employee workforce initiatives), the ability to improve electric commodity margins and to experience growth in the distribution business, the changing market conditions that could affect the value of assets held in FirstEnergy's nuclear decommissioning trusts, pension trusts and other trust funds, and cause it to make additional contributions sooner, or in an amount that is larger than currently anticipated, the ability to access the public securities and other capital and credit markets in accordance with FirstEnergy's financing plan and the cost of such capital, changes in general economic conditions affecting the company, the state of the capital and credit markets affecting the company, interest rates and any actions taken by credit rating agencies that could negatively affect FirstEnergy's access to financing or its costs or increase its requirements to post additional collateral to support outstanding commodity positions, letters of credit and other financial guarantees, the continuing uncertainty of the national and regional economy and its impact on the company's major industrial and commercial customers, issues concerning the soundness of financial institutions and counterparties with which FirstEnergy does business, the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the proposed merger with Allegheny Energy, Inc., including the timing, receipt and terms and conditions of any required governmental and regulatory approvals of the proposed merger that could reduce anticipated benefits or cause the parties to abandon the merger, the diversion of management's time and attention from our ongoing business during this time period, the ability to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers as well as the ability to successfully integrate the businesses and realize cost savings and any other synergies and the risk that the credit ratings of the combined company or its subsidiaries may be different from what the companies expect and the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in its Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and other similar factors. The foregoing review of factors 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'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. The Registrant expressly disclaims any current intention to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto authorized.
November 24, 2010
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FIRSTENERGY CORP.
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Registrant
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By:
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Harvey L. Wagner
Vice President, Controller and
Chief Accounting Officer
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