FirstEnergy Elects CEO Alexander As Executive Chairman; Charles Jones Named CEO

(RTTNews) - FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) said Tuesday that its Board of Directors has elected Anthony Alexander executive chairman of the company, effective January 1, 2015.

Alexander will be succeeded as president and chief executive officer by Charles Jones, who also was elected to the company's Board of Directors. Jones most recently served as executive vice president and president, FirstEnergy Utilities.

George Smart, currently chairman of the FirstEnergy Board of Directors, will be lead independent director during the transition period.

Alexander began his career in 1972 within the tax department of Ohio Edison. He moved to the company's legal department as an attorney in 1976 and progressed through increasing roles of responsibility, ultimately serving as Ohio Edison's executive vice president and general counsel. Upon the formation of FirstEnergy, Alexander was elected executive vice president and general counsel of the new organization. He was elected president of FirstEnergy in 2000; president and chief operating officer in 2001; and president and chief executive officer in 2004.

Jones began his career in 1978 as a substation engineer with Ohio Edison, which merged with Centerior Energy in 1997 to form FirstEnergy. In 1995, he was promoted to president of Ohio Edison's Penn Power subsidiary and returned to Akron in 1996 as an Ohio Edison division manager. Jones was named president of FirstEnergy's Northern Region in 1997, where he was responsible for the company's operations in Northeast Ohio; vice president of Regional Operations in 2001; senior vice president of Energy Delivery and Customer Service in 2003; president, FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., the company's competitive subsidiary, in 2007; and senior vice president, Energy Delivery and Customer Service in 2009.

In 2010, Jones was named senior vice president and president, FirstEnergy Utilities, overseeing the company's 10 regulated distribution companies: Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Penn Power, Penelec, West Penn Power, Metropolitan Edison, Mon Power, Potomac Edison and Jersey Central Power & Light. He was elected to his most recent position in 2014.