FirstEnergy Announces Key Management Changes as Part of Succession Planning Strategy

Charles E. Jones remains CEO; Board elects Steven E. Strah as president and Jon Taylor as senior vice president and CFO

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May 19, 2020, 12:35 ET

AKRON, Ohio, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) today announced a series of management changes that supports the company's succession planning process, broadens the experience of key executives, and further positions the company for long-term, customer-focused growth. All changes will be effective on May 24, 2020.

Steven E. Strah has been elected by the Board of Directors to serve as president, FirstEnergy Corp. Strah will continue reporting to Charles E. Jones, who has been FirstEnergy's president, chief executive officer and member of the board since 2015. Jones will continue to serve as CEO and a member of the board.

"Steve is a strategic and driven leader with a deep understanding of FirstEnergy's business and the needs of our customers, employees and investors," Jones said. "He is committed to driving our long-term, customer-focused growth plans as well as our mission to be a forward-thinking electric utility, and I look forward to working with him in his new role."

As president, Strah will oversee FirstEnergy Utilities; Corporate Services and Information Technology; Finance; Product Development, Marketing and Branding; External Affairs; Rates and Regulatory Affairs; and Strategy. Strah began his career with The Illuminating Company in 1984 and served in a variety of utility leadership roles including regional president of Ohio Edison; vice president, Distribution Support; and senior vice president, FirstEnergy Utilities. He was elected senior vice president and chief financial officer in 2018.

K. Jon Taylor has been elected senior vice president and chief financial officer, reporting to Strah. As CFO, Taylor will oversee Accounting, Treasury and Investor Relations. He joined FirstEnergy in 2009 from PricewaterhouseCoopers and held key roles in FirstEnergy's finance department, including vice president, controller and chief accounting officer, before being named president, Ohio Operations in 2018, and promoted to vice president, Utility Operations, in 2019.

The company also announced that Robert P. Reffner has been elected senior vice president and chief legal officer, reporting to Jones. Reffner will continue to lead the Corporate, Legal, Information & Compliance and Real Estate departments and will now oversee Risk & Internal Auditing. He will also oversee efforts to develop the Innovation Center, a new venture that will apply data analytics, technologies and creative problem-solving to accelerate innovation within FirstEnergy. Reffner joined FirstEnergy in 2007 and was elected senior vice president and general counsel in 2018.

Ebony L. Yeboah-Amankwah was elected vice president, general counsel and chief ethics officer, reporting to Reffner. Yeboah-Amankwah joined FirstEnergy in 2005 and was named vice president, deputy general counsel, corporate secretary and chief ethics officer in 2018.

Mary M. Swann has been elected Corporate Secretary, reporting to Yeboah-Amankwah. Swann joined FirstEnergy in 2018 from Diebold Nixdorf, where she served as Vice President, Executive Corporate Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary.

In FirstEnergy's Utility operations, John Skory has been named vice president, Utility Operations. He will report to Samuel L. Belcher, senior vice president and president, FirstEnergy Utilities. Skory began his career with the Illuminating Company in 1977 and was named president, Ohio Operations, in 2019.

Gary W. Grant, Jr. becomes president, Ohio Operations, reporting to Skory. Grant joined FirstEnergy in 2008 and was named vice president, Customer Service, in 2015.

Michelle R. Henry has been named vice president, Customer Service, reporting to Belcher. Henry began her career with the Illuminating Company in 1988 and was named director, FERC and State Regulatory Compliance, in 2018.

James H. Myers III has been named president, West Virginia Operations. Myers will take over for Holly C. Kauffman, who is retiring after 36 years of service to the company, and eight years as president of West Virginia Operations. Myers, who will report to Skory, joined FirstEnergy in 1986 and was named director, Operations Services, Penelec, in 2019.

Full biographies for each of these executives are available on FirstEnergy's website. Photos are available on Flickr.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,500 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com.

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Dividends declared from time to time on our common stock during any period may in the aggregate vary from prior periods due to circumstances considered by our Board of Directors at the time of the actual declarations. A security rating is not a recommendation to buy or hold securities and is subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating. These forward-looking statements are also qualified by, and should be read together with, the risk factors included in our filings with the SEC, including but not limited to the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q together with any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The foregoing review of factors also should not be construed as exhaustive. 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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.