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FirstEnergy Signs Power Purchase Agreements for Two Wind Power Projects Being Developed in West Virginia

Posted on: Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 18:00 CST

AKRON, Ohio, March 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FirstEnergy announced it has entered into 20-year agreements to purchase the combined 250- megawatt (MW) output of two new wind power generation projects being developed in West Virginia by US Wind Force, LLC, a renewable energy company based in Wexford, Pennsylvania, and its joint venture partner Padoma Wind Power, LLC, based in La Jolla, California.

The projects include: * Mt. Storm - a 150-MW project to be located in Grant County, West Virginia, near the town of Bayard * Liberty Gap - a 100-MW project to be located in Pendleton County, West Virginia, south of the town of Franklin

Combined, the projects are expected to generate approximately 650,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. Both projects are targeted to be operational by December 2007. The power purchase agreements are contingent upon completion of financing and receipt of regulatory approvals for the projects.

"FirstEnergy is committed to protecting the environment while meeting our customers' need for reliable electricity," said Guy Pipitone, senior vice president, Operations Strategy & Development, for FirstEnergy, "and we are very pleased to enter into this agreement for renewable energy with US Wind Force. This agreement for an additional 250 MW of generation with US Wind Force will help us meet those goals while becoming a major renewable energy provider in the region."

"We are excited to partner with FirstEnergy on these projects. When completed, they will more than double the 234 MW of installed wind power capacity now available in the Mid-Atlantic region of PJM," said David McAnally, chief executive officer, for US Wind Force.

This marks the second renewable energy agreement FirstEnergy has completed in the PJM region. In April 2003, the company agreed to purchase from FPL Energy, LLC, the output of a 30-MW wind farm now operational in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

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.

US Wind Force, LLC, is an independent, closely held developer of renewable energy projects. Currently active in the Mid-Atlantic region with projects under development in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, US Wind Force is one of the fastest growing wind energy developers in the United States. The project companies - Mt. Storm Wind Force, LLC and Liberty Gap Wind Force, LLC - are wholly owned subsidiaries of US Wind Force.

Padoma Wind Power, LLC is a wind energy consulting and development company whose principals have been involved in the development of over 40 successful wind energy projects worldwide, including six projects totaling over 500 MW in the last four-and-a-half years.

FirstEnergy Forward-Looking Statement: 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 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, replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or inadequately hedged, the continued ability of our regulated utilities to collect transition and other charges or to recover increased transmission costs, maintenance costs being higher than anticipated, legislative and regulatory changes (including revised environmental requirements), the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 and the legal and regulatory changes resulting from the implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures (including that such amounts could be higher than anticipated) or levels of emission reductions related to the settlement agreement resolving the New Source Review litigation, adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes (including, but not limited to, the revocation of necessary licenses or operating permits, fines or other enforcement actions and remedies) of governmental investigations and oversight, including by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Attorney's Office, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the various state public utility commissions as disclosed in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, generally, and with respect to the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station outage and heightened scrutiny at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in particular, the timing and outcome of future rate proceedings in Pennsylvania, the continuing availability and operation of generating units, the ability of our generating units to continue to operate at, or near full capacity, our inability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from strategic goals (including employee workforce factors), the anticipated benefits from our voluntary pension plan contributions, our ability to improve electric commodity margins and to experience growth in the distribution business, our ability to access the public securities and other capital markets and the cost of such capital, the outcome, cost and other effects of present and potential legal and administrative proceedings and claims related to the August 14, 2003 regional power outage, circumstances which may lead management to seek, or the Board of Directors to grant, in each case in its sole discretion, authority for the implementation of a share repurchase program in the future, the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and other similar factors. Dividends declared from time to time during any annual period may in aggregate vary from the indicated amounts due to circumstances considered by the Board at the time of the actual declarations. Also, a security rating should not be viewed as a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities and it may be subject to revision or withdrawal at any time. We expressly disclaim any current intention to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

FirstEnergy Corp.

CONTACT: Mark Durbin of FirstEnergy Corp., +1-330-761-4365; or FrankMaisano of US Wind Force, LLC, +1-202-828-5864

Web site: http://www.firstenergycorp.com/http://www.uswindforce.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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