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) January 16, 2003
Commission Registrant; State of Incorporation; I.R.S. Employer
File Number Address; and Telephone Number Identification No.
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333-21011 FIRSTENERGY CORP. 34-1843785
(An Ohio Corporation)
76 South Main Street
Akron, Ohio 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
1-2323 THE CLEVELAND ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING COMPANY 34-0150020
(An Ohio Corporation)
c/o FirstEnergy Corp.
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
1-3583 THE TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY 34-4375005
(An Ohio Corporation)
c/o FirstEnergy Corp.
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
1-3141 JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT COMPANY 21-0485010
(A New Jersey Corporation)
c/o FirstEnergy Corp.
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
Item 9. Regulation FD Disclosure
On January 16, 2003, FirstEnergy Corp. (Company) updated the investment
community on activities associated with efforts to prepare the Davis-Besse
Nuclear Power Station for a safe and reliable return to service and other
matters.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) IMC 0350 Restart Process - January 14, 2003
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Public Meeting
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The NRC's IMC 0350 Oversight Panel held its monthly public meeting on the
Davis-Besse restoration efforts in Port Clinton, Ohio on January 14, 2003. The
NRC indicated that a transcript of the meeting would be available on the NRC's
Internet Web site in approximately three weeks.
The NRC provided updates on the Davis-Besse restart checklist, the status of
ongoing NRC inspection activity, and plans for upcoming public meetings.
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) officials discussed progress being
made toward plant restart including preparations for fuel reload, progress on
the bulk work and key systems upgrades, and improvements implemented in various
operational programs.
Ongoing NRC inspections are currently focused on: Organizational Effectiveness
and Human Performance including observations of day-to-day activities, and other
important building blocks such as Program Effectiveness and Systems Health.
With respect to the Organizational Effectiveness and Human Performance
Inspection, the NRC commented that they had completed their evaluation of
FirstEnergy's root cause analysis and the inspection's focus will now shift
toward the adequacy and effectiveness of the Company's corrective actions to
create a more safety-focused work environment. The NRC also announced that a
public meeting has been scheduled for January 30, 2003, in the NRC's Region III
office in Lisle, Illinois to specifically address the Company's evaluation of
safety culture issues among plant management and staff, and its programs to
address those issues. The NRC commented that they were confident that the
plant's senior management had the proper safety culture, but they need to verify
that the culture exists throughout the organization.
Program Effectiveness inspections are reviewing progress on the Company's
implementation of more effective programs. These include the Corrective Action
Program, the Boric Acid Control Program, the In-Service Inspection Program, and
the Radiation Protection Program.
The presentations by FENOC officials covered various restart activities
including:
o A recently installed permanent seal plate on the reactor vessel which
provides a tighter seal and improves efficiency during refueling outages.
o Progress on the design modification of the containment emergency sump
strainers. The sump is a collection point for water that would be
recirculated for reactor cooling in the event of a loss-of-coolant
accident. This change, while not required by the NRC, was initiated by
FENOC to substantially increase the strainers' surface area and thus,
increase the plant's design safety margin.
o Improvements made to the Corrective Action Program and the Reactor Coolant
System Integrity Management Program.
o Initiation of the first Restart Readiness Review meeting which was convened
to validate our readiness for fuel reload (Mode 6 of Operation). The formal
Restart Readiness Review process, which involves all responsible managers
for restart work, is a detailed conservative assessment undertaken before
loading fuel. This process will also be used at each step of plant startup.
o Actions taken and programs being implemented to ensure the proper safety
culture and a safety-conscious work environment, two critical elements in
the Management and Human Performance
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Building Block. The Company has contracted the services of Dr. Sonja Haber
of Performance Safety and Health Associates to assist in the development of
a methodology to assess the safety culture of the work force. Dr. Haber has
significant experience in this field having previously worked with the NRC,
the Department of Energy, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
While recognizing that the restart of Davis-Besse requires NRC approval, the
Company's integrated schedule currently supports restart in the March/April,
2003 timeframe. Critical path activities include:
o January: Fuel reload toward month-end.
o February: Installation of the reactor head, completion of the emergency
sump strainer design modification, and completion of the integrated leak
rate test of containment.
o March: Completion of the seven-day pressure test of the reactor coolant
system test, inspection of the under vessel penetration nozzles, and
testing of all plant systems in preparation for restart.
Upcoming NRC 0350 Public Meetings
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o January 30, 2003: Safety Culture Issues (Lisle, IL)
o February 11, 2003: NRC 0350 monthly public meetings (Port Clinton, OH)
Updates on Other Company Items
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Jersey Central Power & Light Company (JCP&L) Regulatory Activities - The current
schedule of significant events in the JCP&L rate proceeding is:
o JCP&L Rebuttal Testimony due January 24, 2003
o Auditor's Phase I report on accounting and procurement prudence issues
associated with the deferred balances and related items should be issued
and forwarded to the Office of Administrative Law before the end of January
2003. The auditors will be scheduled for cross-examination on their report
during the hearings.
o Hearings are scheduled for February 13, 2003 to March 21, 2003
o Briefs are due April 11, 2003
o Reply Briefs are due May 2, 2003
o Administrative Law Judge's Recommended Decision in June 2003
o Board of Public Utilities' decision in July 2003
o New rates to be effective August 1, 2003
The Basic Generation Service (BGS) auction bid process will commence on February
3, 2003 for power supplies starting August 1, 2003. Proposals are due from
bidders for the 200 megawatts JCP&L Green Energy Program on February 13, 2003.
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Fourth Quarter Earnings Release - FirstEnergy will release its fourth quarter
2002 financial results on Thursday, February 13, 2003. A conference call with
investors will be held at 1:30 PM that afternoon. Details of the call and its
webcast will be detailed in a news release, which will be issued several days in
advance of the call.
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 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,
legislative and regulatory changes (including revised environmental
requirements), the availability and cost of capital, ability to accomplish or
realize anticipated benefits from strategic initiatives and other similar
factors.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, each Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
January 17, 2003
FIRSTENERGY CORP.
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Registrant
THE CLEVELAND ELECTRIC
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ILLUMINATING COMPANY
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Registrant
THE TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY
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Registrant
JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
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Registrant
Harvey L. Wagner
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Harvey L. Wagner
Vice President, Controller
and Chief Accounting Officer
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