Friday, May 6, 2016
Nathan Cummings Foundation Urges Firstenergy Shareholders To Vote For Proposal Regarding Disclosure Of Lobbying Expenditures - Sec Filing
Dear FirstEnergy Shareowner:
We write to you as long-term shareholders in FirstEnergy Corporation (FE) and sponsors of the lobbying disclosure proposal that you will be asked to vote on at the Company’s May 17, 2016 annual meeting.
We urge you to vote FOR Proposal 6 Regarding Disclosure of Lobbying Expenditures
Proposal 6 asks FE to prepare and annually update a report disclosing its policy and procedures governing both direct and indirect lobbying and grassroots lobbying communications as well as payments for direct and indirect lobbying and grassroots lobbying communications. It also requests disclosure of FE’s membership in and payments to tax-exempt organizations that write and endorse model legislation. FirstEnergy previously committed to greater transparency around its political spending, including spending done through trade associations, but has not fulfilled its commitment.i
We believe that inadequate disclosure by FE, combined with its active lobbying against the Clean Power Plan, present significant risks to investors. Instead of diversifying away from coal, FE appears to be investing resources to subvert public policies that address climate change and pursuing business strategies that are subject to reversals by regulators. We are concerned about the impact of this strategy on the Company’s business because of the risk that regulation will decrease demand for uncompetitive power plants, as evidenced by last week’s federal ruling on FE generation plants in Ohio. FE shares dropped ten percent the following day (“FirstEnergy Shares Hammered by Federal Regulatory Order,” The Street, April 28, 2016). By using its money and influence to undermine U.S. commitments to address climate change, FE appears to be pursuing policies that could jeopardize both our investment in FE and our overall investment portfolio...