FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) President and Chief Executive Officer Brian X. Tierney addressed shareholders at the company's 2024 Annual Meeting, emphasizing the company’s progress and resilience. "We have a strong foundation, clear focus and robust strategy to deliver long-term value to our shareholders, customers, communities and employees," Tierney stated.
Tierney outlined FirstEnergy's ambition to become one of the nation's premier electric companies through a business model focused on investing, operating, recovering costs, and financing. He described this as a "Virtuous Cycle" aimed at improving reliability, growing rate base, engaging employees, enhancing returns, and maintaining a strong balance sheet.
Key elements of this cycle include the $26 billion grid modernization plan Energize365 and recent regulatory milestones. Additionally, Tierney noted improvements in the company’s balance sheet that have enabled dividend increases for investors and credit rating upgrades.
"Our goal is to continue impacting each phase of the cycle in a positive way to build on our momentum and benefit all of our stakeholders," said Tierney. He also emphasized FirstEnergy's commitment to responsible business practices grounded in strong governance.
"We're committed to supporting our customers and employees and demonstrating stewardship of the environment and our communities," he added.
Preliminary voting results from the meeting showed shareholders reelected 10 directors for new one-year terms on the Board. They also ratified PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for 2024 and approved named executive officer compensation on an advisory basis. However, three shareholder proposals related to climate metrics integration into compensation plans, changes in compensation recoupment policy, and costs associated with climate strategy were not approved.
The elected directors are:
- Heidi L. Boyd
- Jana T. Croom
- Steven J. Demetriou
- Lisa Winston Hicks
- Paul Kaleta
- James F. O'Neil III
- John W. Somerhalder II
- Brian X. Tierney
- Leslie M. Turner
- Melvin Williams
FirstEnergy serves over six million customers across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York through its extensive electric distribution network.
The full presentation by Tierney is available in FirstEnergy’s Newsroom at firstenergycorp.com.