FirstEnergy scrutinized in blackout investigation

AKRON, Ohio -- The effort to nail down the source of the massive blackout turned Saturday to northern Ohio, where the power system is operated by FirstEnergy Corp., the nation's fourth-largest investor-owned utility.

Akron-based FirstEnergy has 16 power plants and an annual revenue of more than $12 billion, with a service area that stretches from Ohio to New Jersey.

The company is accustomed to scrutiny.

Its Davis-Besse nuclear plant by Toledo has been shut down since February 2002, when it was closed for maintenance. A month later, a leak was found that had allowed boric acid to eat nearly through the 6-inch-thick steel cap on the plant's reactor vessel.

On Saturday, a top investigator said the failure of three transmission lines in northern Ohio likely started Thursday's blackout that swept into eight states and Ontario.

FirstEnergy executives met privately Saturday to determine the extent of the utility's role in the outage. Lunches were brought in and entry into FirstEnergy's downtown brick headquarters was strictly controlled.

"We are about to embark on an extensive review of what may have occurred," utility spokeswoman Kristen Baird said earlier. "We've got a long way to go."

Baird did not return a call seeking comment following remarks Saturday afternoon by Michehl Gent, head of the North American Electric Reliability Council. The council is a nonprofit, industry-sponsored group that is supposed to oversee power line reliability.

Ghent said investigators were "fairly certain" that the problem started in Ohio. "We are now trying to determine why the situation was not brought under control."

Ohio regulators also said the blackout may have started in their state.

Earlier this month, a U.S. District Court judge in Ohio ruled that FirstEnergy should have determined that changes at one of its coal-fired plants would increase overall pollution emissions. A second trial will determine penalties.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic presidential candidate from Cleveland and a FirstEnergy critic, said he was closely monitoring the situation.

"If press reports are accurate, and FirstEnergy once again failed to comply by federal standards, then I believe serious questions must be asked about FirstEnergy's ability to effectively serve," he said.

Cleaning up the Davis-Besse plant has drained FirstEnergy's finances. It lost $57.9 million in the most recent quarter, primarily because of Davis-Besse costs.