July 22 (Reuters) - FirstEnergy's ( FE ) special
reporting obligations tied to 2021 federal charges against the
power company will end within 30 days, according to a status
report filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) on Monday.
In 2021, under a three-year deferred prosecution agreement
(DPA) the company had agreed to pay $230 million as a penalty to
resolve the criminal investigation launched by the USAO.
The investigation alleged that the company conspired to pay
millions of dollars to elected state officials to pursue
legislation that would benefit the company.
U.S. prosecutors had agreed to defer prosecution provided
FirstEnergy ( FE ) continues to cooperate with the investigation.
The status report filed by the USAO for the Southern
District of Ohio said the utility firm has completed certain
required DPA obligations in the three-year term.
FirstEnergy ( FE ) has "undertaken remedial measures and
implemented a compliance and ethics program designed to detect
and deter violations of U.S. law as required by the DPA," the
report said.
The company will continue to be bound by the remaining
provisions in the DPA and on a quarterly basis will have to
publish a list of all payments made to "either entities or
entities known by FirstEnergy ( FE ) to be operating for the benefit of
a public official", the status report said.