AKRON, Ohio (Map) - AKRON, Ohio, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony J. Alexander told the audience at today's Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Akron, Ohio, that the company has become one of the electric utility industry's top performers in many key areas.

"We marked our 10th year as FirstEnergy and delivered the best financial and operational results in our Company's history," he said.

During 2007, FirstEnergy shareholders achieved a total return of nearly 24 percent, reflecting stock price appreciation and reinvested dividends, and the market value of the company increased by nearly $3 billion.

Mr. Alexander said the company also continued to increase the productivity and efficiency of its fossil and nuclear generating plants. Last year, FirstEnergy's generating fleet produced nearly 20 percent more power than in 1999, when Ohio passed legislation deregulating the state's electric industry.

"This strong performance -- combined with our strategic marketing activities -- has helped make FirstEnergy one of the nation's largest and most successful competitive electricity suppliers, with more than 100 million megawatt-hours sold in 2007," he said.

"I'm also proud of our employees' strong focus on safety," Mr. Alexander said. "Last year, they achieved the best safety results in our history and one of the best in our industry -- with less than one recordable incident per 200,000 hours worked."

As the company sets its sights on new operational milestones, Mr. Alexander said that FirstEnergy remains committed to producing and delivering electricity in an environmentally sound manner. Over the next few years, the company will complete its nearly $2 billion Air Quality Compliance program, which is expected to further enhance the environmental performance of its generating fleet.

FirstEnergy has also taken a number of important steps to control its carbon emissions. Since 1990, the company has avoided approximately 150 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) through productivity improvements, the retirement of older coal-based units and the acquisition of more nuclear generation.

"As a result, we're producing more electricity today than ever before while keeping CO2 emissions at 1990 levels," he said. "And, it's important to note that nearly 40 percent of our electricity is generated by non-emitting sources."

Mr. Alexander said the new Ohio electric utility law that was passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor recognizes the changes FirstEnergy has made to its organization, and will enable the company to capture the value of its competitive generating facilities.

"The law not only provides a clear path to competitive markets for generation, but also gives us the ability to negotiate rate plans," he said. "Further, the law is consistent with our long-term strategies regarding renewable power and energy efficiency," Mr. Alexander said.

At the meeting, FirstEnergy shareholders reelected 11 members to its Board of Directors and voted on other company and shareholder proposals. All of the preliminary voting results are subject to final certification.

The following directors were reelected to one-year terms: Mr. Alexander; Paul T. Addison, retired managing director of Salomon Smith Barney; Michael J. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of The Andersons, Inc., and chairman of the board, Interstate Bakeries Corporation; Dr. Carol A. Cartwright, retired president of Kent State University; William T. Cottle, retired chairman, president and chief executive officer of STP Nuclear Operating Company; Robert B. Heisler, Jr., special assistant for community and business strategies to the president of Kent State University; Ernest J. Novak, Jr., retired managing partner of the Cleveland office of Ernst & Young LLP; Catherine A. Rein, retired senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer of MetLife Inc.; George M. Smart, non-executive chairman of the FirstEnergy Board of Directors and retired president of Sonoco-Phoenix, Inc.; Wes M. Taylor, retired president of TXU Generation; and Jesse T. Williams, Sr., retired vice president of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

In other business, shareholders ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm.

Four non-binding shareholder proposals were also considered at the meeting. A proposal requesting the Board to adopt a policy establishing an engagement process with proponents of shareholder proposals failed to gain a majority of affirmative votes cast from shareholders. Receiving a majority of affirmative votes cast from shareholders were non-binding proposals requesting a reduction in the threshold of stock ownership required for calling a special shareholder meeting; recommending the adoption of simple majority shareholder voting; and requesting the adoption of a majority vote standard for the election of directors.

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 4.5 million customers served within a 36,100-square-mile area of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and its generation subsidiaries control more than 14,000 megawatts of capacity.

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 include declarations regarding our, or our 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 our 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 Ohio and Pennsylvania, 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 FirstEnergy's regulated utilities to collect transition and other charges or to recover increased transmission costs, maintenance costs being higher than anticipated, other legislative and regulatory changes including revised environmental requirements and possible greenhouse gas emissions regulation, 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 levels of emission reductions related to the Consent Decree resolving the New Source Review litigation or other potential regulatory initiatives, 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 including, but not limited to, the Demand for Information issued to FENOC on May 14, 2007) as disclosed in our SEC filings, the timing and outcome of various proceedings before the PUCO (including, but not limited to, the Distribution Rate Cases and the generation supply plan filing for the Ohio Companies and the successful resolution of the issues remanded to the PUCO by the Supreme Court of Ohio regarding the Rate Stabilization Plan and the Rate Certainty Plan, including the deferral of fuel costs) and Met-Ed and Penelec's transmission service charge filings with the PPUC (as well as the resolution of the Petitions for Review filed with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania with respect to the transition rate plan for Met-Ed and Penelec), the continuing availability of generating units and their ability to continue to operate at or near full capacity, the ability to comply with applicable state and federal reliability standards, 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, changing market conditions that could affect the value of assets held in our nuclear decommissioning trust fund, pension fund and other trust funds, the ability to access the public securities and other capital markets and the cost of such capital, the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our SEC 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 us to predict all such factors, nor can we assess the impact of any such factor on our 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. We expressly disclaim any current intention to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.