UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) March 8, 2004
Commission Registrant; State of Incorporation; I.R.S. Employer
File Number Address; and Telephone Number Identification No.
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333-21011 FIRSTENERGY CORP. 34-1843785
(An Ohio Corporation)
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
1-2323 THE CLEVELAND ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING COMPANY 34-0150020
(An Ohio Corporation)
c/o FirstEnergy Corp.
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
1-3583 THE TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY 34-4375005
(An Ohio Corporation)
c/o FirstEnergy Corp.
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
Item 5. Other Events
On March 8, 2004, FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a
wholly owned subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., announced that the Davis-Besse
Nuclear Power Station has begun the first of a series of steps to safely restart
the plant's reactor after an extended outage to replace the reactor head and
make other equipment and performance improvements. The startup activities began
after FENOC officials today received authorization to restart the plant from the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). FENOC formally requested startup
authorization at the February 12, 2004, NRC 0350 panel meeting in Port Clinton,
Ohio. FENOC executives stated that plant personnel had completed the major
actions necessary to return Davis-Besse to safe and reliable service.
The plant will be restarted in a deliberate and controlled manner,
with reactor operators incrementally increasing reactor power, stopping at the
50-percent and 100-percent power levels to test equipment and assess operational
performance. Also, post-restart assessments will be conducted two weeks and one
month after the plant reaches 100-percent power. Operators expect to reach full
power within two weeks.
The NRC granted restart authorization in an order containing several
commitments for Davis-Besse. Those requirements include ongoing independent
assessments of the site's operational performance, safety culture and safety
conscious work environment, and corrective action and engineering programs for
five years, as well as visual inspection of the reactor head and lower vessel
during the plant's mid-cycle outage, slated in about one year. The Davis-Besse
Nuclear Power Station is owned 51.38% by The Cleveland Electric Illuminating
Company and 48.62% by The Toledo Edison Company.
A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99 hereto and is
incorporated by reference.
Item 7. Financial Statements, Pro Forma Financial Statements and Exhibits
(c) Exhibits.
Exhibit No. Description
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99 Press Release issued by FENOC, dated March 8, 2004
Forward-Looking Statement: This Form 8-K 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," "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, maintenance costs being higher than anticipated,
legislative and regulatory changes (including revised environmental
requirements), adverse regulatory or legal decisions and the outcome of
governmental investigations, availability and cost of capital, the continuing
availability and operation of generating units, the inability to accomplish or
realize anticipated benefits of strategic goals, the ability to improve electric
commodity margins and to experience growth in the distribution business, the
ability to access the public securities markets, further investigation into the
causes of the August 14, 2003 regional power outage and the outcome, cost and
other effects of present and potential legal and administrative proceedings and
claims related to that outage, a denial of or material change to the Company's
Application related to its Rate Stabilization Plan, and other factors discussed
from time to time in FirstEnergy's Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including its annual report on Form 10-K (as amended) for the year ended
December 31, 2002, its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003 and
under "Risk Factors" in the Prospectus Supplement dated September 12, 2003 to
the Prospectus dated August 29, 2003 (which was part of the Registration
Statement-SEC File No. 333-103865) and other similar factors. FirstEnergy
expressly disclaims any current intention to update any forward-looking
statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future
events, or otherwise.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, each Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
March 8, 2004
FIRSTENERGY CORP.
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Registrant
THE CLEVELAND ELECTRIC
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ILLUMINATING COMPANY
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Registrant
THE TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY
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Registrant
/s/ Harvey L. Wagner
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Harvey L. Wagner
Vice President, Controller
and Chief Accounting Officer
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