Gregory Eisenstark 732.448.2537 geisenstark@windelsmarx.com 120 Albany Street Plaza New Brunswick, NJ 08901 T. 732.846.7600 F. 732.846.8877 September 8, 2016 VIA HAND DELIVERY Hon. Richard S. Mroz, President., Ste. 314-0350 Re: In the Matter of the Verified Petition of Jersey Central Power & Light Company ( JCP&L ) and Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC ( MAIT ) for: (1) Approval of the Transfer of JCP&L s Transmission Assets to MAIT Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-7; (2) Approval of a Lease of JCP&L s Real Property and Real Property Rights Associated with its Transmission Assets to MAIT Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-7; (3) Approval of a Mutual Assistance Agreement Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-7.1; and (4) a Declaration that MAIT Will be Deemed a Public Utility for, inter alia, the Purposes of Siting Authority under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-19 and Eminent Domain Authority Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-17.6 et seq. BPU Docket No. EM15060733 -and- In the Matter of the Verified Petition of Jersey Central Power & Light Company for Authorization Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-7.2 for Approval to Participate in the FirstEnergy Corp. Intrasystem Money Pool BPU Docket No. EF02030185 Amendment No. 8 Dear President Mroz: Petitioners Jersey Central Power & Light Company ( JCP&L ) and Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC ( MAIT )(collectively, Joint Petitioners ) are writing to inform
Honorable Richard S. Mroz, President September 8, 2016 Page 2 the ( Board ) that they are hereby withdrawing the Petition in the above-referenced matter. Joint Petitioners filed this matter in June 2015. Contested case proceedings have been underway since that time. There has been voluminous discovery in this matter Joint Petitioners have responded to multiple rounds of written interrogatories over many months. There have been several settlement meetings with Board Staff, the, and other intervenors. FirstEnergy Corp. ( FirstEnergy ) has stated publically that its intent is to have MAIT begin investing in the transmission system by January 1, 2017. As the BPU is aware, FirstEnergy has received final approvals from both the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. However, at this juncture, nearly fifteen months after the original Petition was filed, there appears to be no prospect of resolving this matter in New Jersey to accommodate the above time-frame. While FirstEnergy continues to believe that MAIT would bring significant benefits to New Jersey and to JCP&L s customers (including accelerated completion of reliability upgrades to the transmission system, reduced financing costs, and the creation of approximately 200 jobs) the Joint Petitioners are withdrawing the Petition in this matter at this time, without prejudice, and may consider a transaction in the future. FirstEnergy remains hopeful that the Board and
Honorable Richard S. Mroz, President September 8, 2016 Page 3 interested parties in New Jersey could develop a mutually acceptable structure that would enable these investments and deliver benefits, for JCP&L s customers and the State of New Jersey. Respectfully submitted, cc: Irene Kim Asbury, Secretary Service List (via email only) Gregory Eisenstark
SERVICE LIST In the Matter of the Verified Petition of Jersey Central Power & Light Company ( JCP&L ) and Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC ( MAIT ) for: (1) Approval of the Transfer of JCP&L s Transmission Assets to MAIT Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-7; (2) Approval of a Lease of JCP&L s Real Property and Real Property Rights Associated with its Transmission Assets to MAIT Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-7; (3) Approval of a Mutual Assistance Agreement Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-7.1; and (4) a Declaration that MAIT Will be Deemed a Public Utility for, inter alia, the Purposes of Siting Authority under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-19 and Eminent Domain Authority Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:3-17.6 et seq., et al. BPU Docket No. EM15060733 BPU Kenneth Sheehan, Chief of Staff kenneth.sheehan@bpu.state.nj.us Bethany Rocque-Romaine bethany.rocque-romaine@bpu.state.nj.us Jackie O Grady jackie.ogrady@bpu.state.nj.us DAG Alex Moreau, DAG 124 Halsey Street, 5th Floor alex.moreau@dol.lps.state.nj.us Jerome May, Director jerome.may@bpu.state.nj.us Paul Flanagan, Exec. Director paul.flanagan@bpu.state.nj.us John Masiello 44 South Clinton Avenue, 9th Floor John.Masiello@bpu.state.nj.us Carolyn McIntosh, DAG 124 Halsey Street, 5th Floor Carolyn.mcintosh@dol.lps.state.nj.us Cynthia Covie, Chief Counsel cynthia.covie@bpu.state.nj.us Mark Beyer, Chief Economist mark.beyer@bpu.state.nj.us Geoffrey Gersten, DAG 124 Halsey Street - 5 th Fl. geoffrey.gersten@dol.lps.state.nj.us Jodie VanWert, DAG 124 Halsey Street - 5th Fl jodie.vanwert@dol.lps.state.nj.us Rate Counsel Stefanie A. Brand, Director sbrand@rpa.state.nj.us Ruby Smith 124 Halsey Street - 5th Fl Ruby.Smith@dol.lps.state.nj.us Ami Morita, DRA amorita@rpa.state.nj.us Diane Schulze, Esq. dschulze@rpa.state.nj.us {40583916:1}
Rate Counsel (continued) Kurt Lewandowski, Esq. klewando@rpa.state.nj.us Rate Counsel Consultants Kevin O Donnell Nova Energy Consultants, Inc. 1350 SE Maryland Road, Suite 101 Cary, NC 27511 KODonnell@novaenergyconsultants.com Brian Lipman 140 East Front Street, 4 th Floor Trenton, N.J. 08615-0003 blipman@rpa.state.nj.us Scott Hempling, Esq. 417 St. Lawrence Drive Silver Springs, MD 20901 shempling@scotthemplinglaw.com Lisa Gurkas 140 East Front Street, 4 th Floor Trenton, N.J. 08615-0003 lgurkas@rpa.state.nj.us David Peterson Chesapeake Reg. Consultants Inc. 10351 Southern Maryland Blvd. Suite 202 Dunkirk, MD 20754-9500 davep@chesapeake.net Gregory Booth PowerServices, Inc. 1616 E. Millbrook Road Suite 210 Raleigh, NC 27609 GBooth@powerservices.com Matthew Kahal 1108 Pheasant Xing Charlottesville, VA 22901 mkahal@exeterassociates.com JCP&L Gregory Eisenstark, Esq. Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP 120 Albany Street Plaza New Brunswick, NJ 08901 geisenstark@windelsmarx.com Bradley A. Bingaman, Esq. First Energy Service Company 76 South Main Street Akron, OH 44308 bbingaman@firstenergycorp.com Mark A. Mader Jersey Central Power & Light Company 300 Madison Avenue P.O. Box 1911 Morristown, New Jersey 07960 mamader@firstenergycorp.com Michael J. Connolly, Esq. Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP One Giralda Farms Madison, New Jersey 07940 mconnolly@windelsmarx.com Lauren M. Lepkoski, Esq. FirstEnergy Service Company Legal Department 2800 Pottsville Pike Reading, PA 19612-6001 llepkoski@firstenergycorp.com Peter G. Verniero, Esq. Sill Cummis Gross P.C. One Riverfront Plaza Newark, New Jersey 07102 pverniero@sillscummis.com New Jersey Large Energy Users Coalition (NJLEUC ) Steven S. Goldenberg Fox Rothschild LLP 997 Lenox Drive, Bldg. 3 Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 sgoldenberg@foxrothschild.com PSE&G Paul F. Forshay Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, LLP 700 Sixth Street, N.W. Suite 700 Washington, DC 20001-3980 paul.forshay@sutherland.com Alexander Stern, Esq. Law Department PSE&G Services Corporation 80 Park Plaza-T5 Newark, NJ 07102-4194 Alexander.Stern@pseg.com Hesser McBride, Esq. Law Department PSE&G Services Corporation 80 Park Plaza-T5 Newark, NJ 07102-4194 Hesser.McBride@pseg.com {40583916:1}
Rockland Electric Margaret Comes Senior Attorney Rockland Electric Company Room 1815-S 4 Irving Place New York, New York 10003 comesm@coned.com Atlantic City Electric Philip J. Passanante, Esq. Associate General Counsel Pepco Holdings, Inc./Atlantic City Electric Company P.O. Box 6066 Newark, Delaware 19714-6066 Philip.passanante@pepcoholdings.com Coleen Foley, Esq. Saul Ewing One Riverfront Plaza Suite 1520 Newark, NJ 07102 cfoley@saul.com LSP Transmission Holdings Murray E. Bevan, Esq. Bevan, Mosca & Giuditta 222 Mount Airy Road, Suite 200 Basking Ridge, NJ 07920-2335 Hovsons, Inc. Stephen Eisdorfer, Esq. Hill Wallack, LLP 21 Roszel Road Princeton, NJ 08540 {40583916:1}