ASSET IMPAIRMENTS

Competitive Generation Asset Sale

FirstEnergy announced in January 2017 that AE Supply and AGC had entered into an asset purchase agreement (which was subsequently amended and restated as described below) to sell four of AE Supply’s natural gas generating plants and approximately 59% of AGC’s interest in the Bath County pumped hydro facility (1,572 MWs of combined capacity) to a subsidiary of LS Power for an all-cash purchase price of $925 million, subject to customary and other closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals from FERC and the VSCC, as applicable, and various third-party consents. On February 17, 2017, AE Supply and AGC submitted a filing with FERC and on June 13, 2017, FERC issued an order authorizing such transaction as described in the January 2017 asset purchase agreement. On September 29, 2017, the parties filed a request with FERC for authorization to transfer the related hydroelectric license for Bath County under Part I of the FPA. Additional filings have been submitted to FERC for the purpose of amending affected FERC-jurisdictional rates and implementing the transaction once all regulatory approvals are obtained. Additionally, the consent of VEPCO is needed for the sale of AGC’s interest in the Bath County pumped hydro facility, as well as agreement among AGC, LS Power and VEPCO with respect to certain amendments to the Bath County project agreements.

On August 30, 2017, the parties, along with AE Supply's subsidiary BU Energy, executed an amended and restated asset purchase agreement to (1) reduce the purchase price to $825 million, subject to adjustments, (2) add BU Energy’s 50% interest in a joint venture that owns the Buchanan Generating Facility (43 MWs) to the transaction and (3) provide that each component of the transaction (i.e., the AE Supply natural gas facilities, AGC’s interest in the Bath County hydroelectric power station and BU Energy’s interest in the Buchanan Generating Facility) may close independently. The sale of the AE Supply natural gas generating plants is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the sale of approximately 59% of AGC’s interests in the Bath County hydroelectric power station and BU Energy’s 50% interest in the Buchanan Generating Facility are expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, subject in each case to various customary and other closing conditions including, without limitation, receipt of regulatory approvals and third-party consents, including the consent of VEPCO as discussed above. Under the amended and restated purchase agreement, AE Supply has agreed to satisfy and discharge all of its approximately $305 million of currently outstanding senior notes, which is expected to require the payment of a “make-whole” premium currently estimated to be approximately $100 million based on current interest rates, upon both (i) the consummation of the sale of the natural gas generating plants and (ii) either (a) the consummation of the sale of approximately 59% of AGC's interest in the Bath County hydroelectric power station or (b) the consummation of the pending sale of the Pleasants Power Station by AE Supply to its affiliate, MP. As a further condition to closing, FE will provide the purchaser two limited three-year guarantees of certain obligations of AE Supply and AGC arising under the amended and restated purchase agreement. On September 29, 2017, the parties filed an application with FERC for authorization to complete the Buchanan Generating Facility sale. On October 20, 2017, the parties filed an application with the VSCC for approval of the sale of approximately 59% of AGC's interest in the Bath County hydroelectric power station. There can be no assurance that all regulatory approvals will be obtained and/or all closing conditions will be satisfied or that any of the transactions will be consummated.

As a result of the amended asset purchase agreement, CES recorded non-cash pre-tax impairment charges of $158 million in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017.

Assets held for sale as of September 30, 2017, include property, plant and equipment (net of accumulated provision for depreciation) of $765 million, investments of $20 million, materials and supplies inventory of $4 million, and AROs of approximately $1 million.

MAIT Transmission Formula Rate Settlement

As described in Note 10, “Regulatory Matters,” on October 13, 2017, MAIT and certain parties filed a settlement agreement with FERC, which is subject to a final order. As a result of the settlement agreement, MAIT recorded a pre-tax impairment charge of $13 million in the third quarter of 2017.

Competitive Generation Deactivations and Other Exit Activities

On July 22, 2016, FirstEnergy and FES announced their intent to exit operations of the Bay Shore Unit 1 generating station (136 MWs) by October 1, 2020, through either sale or deactivation and to deactivate Units 1-4 of the W.H. Sammis generating station (720 MWs) by May 31, 2020. As a result, FirstEnergy recorded a non-cash pre-tax impairment charge of $647 million ($517 million - FES) in the second quarter of 2016. PJM and the Independent Market Monitor have approved the W.H. Sammis Units 1-4 and Bay Shore Unit 1 deactivations. In addition, FirstEnergy and FES recorded termination and settlement costs on fuel contracts of approximately $58 million (pre-tax) in the second quarter of 2016 resulting from plant retirements and deactivations, which is included in Fuel expense in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Loss).

Goodwill

As a result of low capacity prices associated with the 2019/2020 PJM Base Residual Auction in May 2016, as well as its annual update to its fundamental long-term capacity and energy price forecast, FirstEnergy determined that an interim impairment analysis of the CES reporting unit’s goodwill was necessary during the second quarter of 2016.

Consistent with FirstEnergy’s annual goodwill impairment test, a discounted cash flow analysis was used to determine the fair value of the CES reporting unit for purposes of step one of the interim goodwill impairment test. Key assumptions incorporated into the CES discounted cash flow analysis requiring significant management judgment included the following:

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Future Energy and Capacity Prices: Observable market information for near-term forward power prices, PJM auction results for near term capacity pricing, and a longer-term fundamental pricing model for energy and capacity that considered the impact of key factors such as load growth, plant retirements, carbon and other environmental regulations, and natural gas pipeline construction, as well as coal and natural gas pricing.


•	Retail Sales and Margin: CES' current retail targeted portfolio to estimate future retail sales volume as well as historical financial results to estimate retail margins.


•	Operating and Capital Costs: Estimated future operating and capital costs, including the estimated impact on costs of pending carbon and other environmental regulations, as well as costs associated with capacity performance reforms in the PJM market.


•	Discount Rate: A discount rate of 9.50%, based on selected comparable companies' capital structure, return on debt and return on equity.


•	Terminal Value: A terminal value of 7.0x earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization based on consideration of peer group data and analyst consensus expectations.

Based on the impairment analysis, FirstEnergy determined that the carrying value of goodwill exceeded its fair value and recognized a non-cash pre-tax impairment charge of $800 million ($23 million - FES) in the second quarter of 2016, which is included in Impairment of assets in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Loss).

Termination of Customer Contract

During the third quarter of 2016, FES recorded a pre-tax charge of $32 million associated with the termination of a customer contract, which is included in Other operating expenses in the Consolidated Statement of Income (Loss).