The changes are e ecti e ebruary 2 2009

Boulanger, Abramo , and other lobbyists working with them, sought to ad ancethe interests o groups and companies they represented by lobbying ederallegislati e and executi e branch o icials.According to court documents,Boulanger admitted that he, Abramo and others established contacts with ederal legislati e and executi e branch o icials who could use theirin luence and positions to take o icial actions a orable to Boulanger andthe other lobbyists.A ter establishing contacts with certain publico icials, Boulanger admitted that he, Abramo , and others o ered and ga enumerous things o alue to these public o icials in an e ort to reward them or actions they had taken, to in luence the public o icials in theiro icial actions, and to make them more recepti e to requests or o icialactions in the uture.Boulanger admitted that the things o alue he and others pro ided as part o this conspiracy included all-expenses-paid tra el, tens o thousands o dollars-worth o tickets to pro essional sporting e ents, concerts and othere ents, and requent and expensi e meals and drinks at Washington, D.C.-arearestaurants and bars.According to court documents, the public o icials, inturn, agreed to take and took a orable o icial actions, which included theinsertion or protection o legislati e appropriations; the insertion,protection, remo al or pre ention o legislati e amendments; and lobbying bythe public o icials o other legislati e and executi e branch o icials totake or abstain rom taking o icial action.According to court documents,Boulanger admitted that he, Abramo and others attempted to conceal theirpractice o pro iding things o alue to public o icials.Speci ically, according to the plea agreement, Boulanger sought the assistanceo a sta member who worked on the U.S. House o Representati es, Committeeon Transportation and In rastructure.One o Boulanger's clients was anequipment rental company, on whose behal Boulanger and another lobbyist,James Hirni, sought to ha e two legislati e amendments inserted into the ederal Highway Bill in 2003.Boulanger admitted that, with his knowledge andappro al, Hirni and another indi idual pro ided an all-expenses-paid trip onOct. 18 and 19, 2003, to game one o the Baseball World Series in New YorkCity to the committee sta member and to Tre or Blackann, a ormer sta member to a U.S Senator.On Oct. Senator.Boulanger admitted he met thelegislati e director on July 16, 2002, and pro ided the things o alue or 20months ollowing their irst meeting.The case is part o the ongoing in estigation into the acti ities o ormerlobbyist Jack Abramo and his associates.Abramo pleaded guilty in January2006 to conspiracy to commit honest ser ices raud, honest ser ices raud andtax e asion.Abramo was sentenced in September 2008 to 48 months in prisonand is cooperating in the in estigation.Both Hirni and Blackann ha e pleadedguilty or their roles in the scheme and are cooperating with thein estigation.In all, se enteen indi iduals, including lobbyists and publico icials, ha e pleaded guilty, been con icted at trial, or are awaiting trialas a result o the in estigation.This case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys M. Kendall Day and Peter C.Sprung o the Public Integrity Section, headed by Section Chie William M.Welch II.The in estigation is being conducted by the BI.SOURCEU.S Department o JusticeU.S. Department o Justice O ice o Public A airs, 1-202-514-2007, TDD,1-202-514-1888. Charles E.

Schneider Named President, irstEnergy SolutionsAKRON, Ohio, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire- irstCall/ In a mo e to urthersupport succession planning and broaden executi e experience, irstEnergyCorp (NYSE: E) today named Charles E. Schneider president o irstEnergySolutions, the company's competiti e subsidiary. The changes are e ecti e ebruary 2, 2009."These changes will urther enhance our succession plans and broaden theroles and responsibilities o two o our key executi es," said Anthony J.Alexander, president and chie executi e o icer o irstEnergy. "O er thepast ew years, Chuck and Donny ha e taken on many new challenges andleadership responsibilities.

I belie e their experiences on both the regulatedand competiti e sides o our business will ser e our company well in the uture."Mr Jones joined the company in 1978 as a substation engineer. He held arious positions in engineering be ore being named president o Ohio Edison'sPenn Power subsidiary in 1995. He was promoted to president o the company'sNorthern Region Ohio in 1997, ice president o Regional Operations in2001, and senior ice president o Energy Deli ery & Customer Ser ice in 2003.Since 2007, Mr. Jones has ser ed as president o irstEnergy Solutions, withresponsibility or Retail and Commodity Operations. He recei ed a bachelor o science degree in electrical engineering rom The Uni ersity o Akron and is aRegistered Pro essional Engineer in Ohio Mr.

Jones also completed theMassachusetts Institute o Technology's Reactor Technology Program orUtility Executi es.Mr. Schneider joined the company in 1982 as a power plant technician. Heser ed in a ariety o engineering and maintenance positions at the company'spower plants, including manager o the Bruce Mans ield Plant, the company'slargest coal- ired acility. In 2001, he was named ice president o ossilOperations and in 2004 he became ice president o Commodity Operations or irstEnergy Solutions Since 2007, Mr. Schneider has ser ed as senior icepresident, Energy Deli ery & Customer Ser ice. Schneider also completedthe Kellogg School o Management's Ad anced Executi e Program at NorthwesternUni ersity and the Massachusetts Institute o Technology's Reactor TechnologyProgram or Utility Executi es. irstEnergy is a di ersi ied energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio.Its subsidiaries and a iliates are in ol ed in the generation, transmissionand distribution o electricity, as well as energy management and otherenergy-related ser ices.