In 2025, FirstEnergy’s Green Teams—comprised of nearly 800 employee volunteers—planted over 30,000 native trees across its six-state service territory, surpassing the company’s annual goal by 20%. This brings the cumulative total since 2020 to 131,000 trees, with plantings concentrated in underserved communities through 151 events that generated 3,438 volunteer hours. Ohio led the effort with almost 14,000 trees at 70 events, followed by West Virginia and Maryland (7,000+ trees, 50 events) and Pennsylvania (6,000+ trees, 16 events). These strategic plantings of red maple, hickory, oak and dogwood support watershed health, urban canopy expansion and carbon sequestration, reinforcing FirstEnergy’s commitment to sustainability metrics valued by institutional investors.

On February 4, 2026, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company submitted its Default Service Plan to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, outlining a competitive auction process for procuring supply for more than two million customers starting June 1, 2027. Generation supply accounts for roughly 60% of a typical customer bill; under the proposal, auctions in January, April and November 2027 (then biannually through 2031) will set the utility’s standard fixed rate. New customer safeguards include automatic reversion to default service when fixed-term contracts expire and quarterly opt-in confirmation for variable plans. Peak hours for the Time-of-Use program would shrink to 3–7 p.m., potentially flattening demand peaks and reducing wholesale procurement costs.

Following Maryland PSC approval, Potomac Edison will deploy an $11.1 million pilot to support up to 28 zero-emission school buses, covering the average $250,000 cost differential per vehicle along with charging infrastructure and utility-side upgrades. The program, running up to five years or until funds are exhausted, includes full site assessment, equipment installation and operator training. It also features a vehicle-to-grid trial to assess how stored battery energy can bolster grid reliability during peak events. Serving 285,000 customers across seven Maryland counties, the initiative positions FirstEnergy to capture emerging demand-response opportunities under state clean-transportation mandates.