FirstEnergy Corp

FirstEnergy Corp has accumulated $213.7 million in environmental penalties across 43 enforcement records documented by ViolationTracker. This includes a 2019 federal court ruling that denied the company’s attempt to evade responsibility for a toxic coal ash site in Pennsylvania, holding it liable under the Superfund law (CERCLA) for cleanup costs. The company’s environmental record is further defined by its role in a catastrophic coal ash spill at the Little Blue Run impoundment, which regulators found resulted in the release of 1.5 million tons of toxic material — at least 30 times more than initially reported — contaminating local waterways and groundwater.

The company’s operational conduct has repeatedly drawn legal action for environmental damage. New York State Electric & Gas sued FirstEnergy under CERCLA to recover costs for cleaning up hazardous substance contamination. While the 2025 $250 million penalty from Ohio regulators was specifically tied to the HB6 political corruption scandal, the scale of the penalty underscores a pattern of systemic governance failures that enable environmental and community harm.

FirstEnergy Corp is an electric utility holding company whose generation fleet remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels. As of its most recent reporting, approximately 60% of its owned generation capacity is coal-fired, with additional natural gas and oil resources. The company's primary subsidiaries are regulated utilities that serve customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and West Virginia.

The company's operations have been central to a major political corruption scandal in Ohio. In 2020, federal prosecutors revealed a $60 million bribery scheme where FirstEnergy funneled funds through dark money groups to secure the passage and defense of House Bill 6, a billion-dollar bailout for the company's uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. This led to a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. In November 2025, Ohio regulators ordered FirstEnergy's utilities to pay over $250 million in penalties and customer refunds related to the HB 6 scandal, citing a pattern of violations and improper spending that could not be traced to legitimate utility purposes.

While FirstEnergy has announced a goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, its near-term generation mix and capital investments remain tied to fossil fuel infrastructure. The company's historical conduct demonstrates the use of political influence to protect fossil fuel assets, and its current transition trajectory lags behind sector peers.