ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
We operate in a business environment that involves significant risks, many of which are beyond our control. Management regularly evaluates the most significant risks of its businesses and reviews those risks with the FET Board. The following risk factors and all other information contained in this report should be considered carefully when evaluating FET. These risk factors could affect our financial results and cause such results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of us. Below, we have identified risks we consider material. The risks that we face are not limited to those in this section. There may be additional risks and uncertainties (either currently unknown or not currently believed to be material) that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or cash flows. Although the risks are organized by headings, and each risk is discussed separately, many are interrelated. These risk factors should be read in conjunction with Item 1., "Business," Item 7,. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," and in other sections of this Form 10-K that include forward-looking and other statements involving risks and uncertainties that could impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or cash flows.
Risks Associated with Our Business and Industry
Failure to comply with debt covenants in the FET Revolving Facility could adversely affect our ability to execute future borrowings and/or require early repayment and could restrict our ability to obtain additional or replacement financing on acceptable terms or at all.
Our FET Revolving Facility contains various financial and other covenants, including maintaining a consolidated debt-to-total-capitalization ratio of no more than 75%. Compliance with each covenant is measured at the end of each fiscal quarter.
Our FET Revolving Facility contains certain negative and affirmative covenants. Our ability to comply with the covenants and restrictions contained in our FET Revolving Facility has been, and may in the future, be affected by events related to the ongoing government investigations or otherwise. As of December 31, 2025, FET and the FET Subsidiaries were in compliance with their debt-to-total-capitalization ratio covenants.
A breach of any of the covenants contained in our FET Revolving Facility could result in an event of default under the FET Revolving Facility and we would not be able to access the FET Revolving Facility for additional borrowings and letters of credit while any default exists. Upon the occurrence of such an event of default, any amounts outstanding under our FET Revolving Facility could be declared to be immediately due and payable and all applicable commitments to extend further credit could be terminated. There were no amounts outstanding under our FET Revolving Facility as of December 31, 2025. If future indebtedness under our FET Revolving Facility is accelerated, there can be no assurance that we will have sufficient assets to repay the indebtedness. In addition, certain events, including but not limited to any covenant breach related to alleged failures to comply with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, an event of default under our FET Revolving Facility and the acceleration of applicable commitments under our FET Revolving Facility could restrict our ability to obtain additional or replacement financing on acceptable terms or at all. The operating and financial restrictions and covenants in our FET Revolving Facility and any future financing agreements may adversely affect our ability to finance future operations or capital needs or to engage in other business activities.
In connection with FirstEnergy's actions to focus on its regulated operations, the FET Subsidiaries have taken steps to focus on growing their respective businesses and earnings. The ability of the FET Subsidiaries to successfully grow their respective businesses is subject to certain risks that could adversely affect profitability and our financial condition in the future.
FirstEnergy has undertaken a transmission expansion plan designed to improve operating flexibility, increase reliability, position transmission capacity for future load growth and facilitate response to system events. This plan allows FET to capitalize on growth opportunities available to its regulated operations. The FET Subsidiaries intend to grow their businesses and earnings through its regulated capital investment program, which includes transmission projects extending throughout PJM, including the transmission systems of the FET Subsidiaries.
The success of our growth strategy will depend, in part, on the successful growth of revenue resulting from our transmission investments in line with our expectations. Factors that may affect our revenue growth may include: (1) FERC's timely approval of rates to recover such investments; (2) whether investments are included in PJM's RTEP; (3) FERC's evolving policies with respect to incentive rates for transmission investment assets, the calculation of the base ROE component of transmission rates, and the interconnection of AI data centers and transmission network upgrades supporting such large loads; (4) FERC's potentially-evolving policies regarding whether certain classes of network transmission upgrade costs can be capitalized as part of transmission rates and whether such costs will be direct charged to the connecting customer; (5) consideration and potential impact of the objections of those who oppose such investments and their recovery; and (6) timely development, construction, and operation of the new facilities. See "—Complex and changing government regulations, including those associated with rates, could have a negative impact on our results of operations" and "—Certain elements of the FET Subsidiaries' cost recovery through rates can be challenged, which could result in lower rates and/or refunds of amounts previously collected and thus have an adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows" below.
Our ability to capitalize on investment opportunities available to our business depends, in part, on any future transmission rate filings at FERC, including maintaining the affordability of the rates charged to customers. Any denial of, or delay in, the approval
of any future transmission rate requests could restrict us from fully recovering our cost of service, may impose risks on the transmission operations and could have a material adverse effect on our regulatory strategy, results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to risks arising from the FET Subsidiaries' operation of transmission facilities.
Operation of transmission facilities involves risk, including the risk of potential breakdown or failure of equipment or processes due to aging infrastructure, fuel supply or transportation disruptions, accidents, labor disputes or work stoppages by employees, human error in operations or maintenance, acts of terrorism or sabotage, cyber-attacks, construction delays or cost overruns, shortages of or delays in obtaining equipment, material and labor, operational restrictions resulting from environmental requirements and governmental interventions and operational performance below expected levels. In addition, weather-related incidents and other natural disasters can disrupt transmission systems and, in some cases, lead to catastrophic effects such as wildfires. Because the FET Subsidiaries' transmission facilities are interconnected with those of third parties, the operation of the FET Subsidiaries' facilities could be adversely affected by unexpected or uncontrollable events occurring on the systems of such third parties.
FET and the FET Subsidiaries remain obligated to provide safe and reliable service to customers. Meeting this commitment requires the expenditure of significant capital resources. Failure to provide safe and reliable service and failure to meet regulatory reliability standards due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, equipment failure and weather, could harm our and the FET Subsidiaries' business reputations and adversely affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' operating results through reduced revenues and increased capital and operating costs, the concurrence of liabilities to claimholders and the imposition of penalties/fines or other adverse regulatory outcomes.
Demand for electricity within our service territory could exceed supply capacity, resulting in negative impacts to our reputation, results and financial condition.
Recent industry projections reflect the potential for significant growth in energy demand over the next decade. This could be exacerbated if additional resources are not available to meet increased demand in the future. For example, data centers have substantially larger load requirements than typical residential or commercial use. New data centers or the increase in demand for existing data centers located in our service territories could increase load requirements substantially over the next several years, thereby increasing the aggregate load obligations of the Electric Companies. A need to serve the load obligations of these data centers, which could be up to 16,985 megawatts through 2035, has the potential to adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows. At the same time, our planning could be adversely affected if electricity usage by data centers is ultimately lower than projected, which could reduce anticipated load growth or create stranded investment risk.
We continue to evaluate the potential impacts of the development, construction, and operation of new data centers in our service territories and will continue to evaluate potential mitigants to these risks. Still, we cannot predict whether the data centers under consideration will ever commence operations or the size of the load obligations of those that do become operational.
Current or future litigation or administrative proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The FET Subsidiaries have been and continue to be involved in legal proceedings, administrative proceedings, claims and other litigation that arise in the ordinary course of business. Various individuals and interest groups may challenge the issuance of relevant state utility commission authorizations to construct new transmission lines, or other relevant certificates, permits or approvals. In addition, we and the FET Subsidiaries are sometimes subject to investigations and inquiries by various state and federal regulators due to the heavily regulated nature of our industry. Unfavorable outcomes or developments relating to these or other proceedings or investigations, such as judgments for monetary damages and other remedies, including injunctions or revocation of relevant authorizations, certificates, permits or approvals, could have a material adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, the notes.
Although the FET Subsidiaries intend to vigorously defend these matters, the results of these proceedings or investigations cannot be determined. For more information on these proceedings and other litigation, see "Outlook—Other Legal Proceedings" In Item 7., "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
We and the FET Subsidiaries are subject to various regulatory requirements, including reliability standards, rate tariff and contract filing requirements, reporting, recordkeeping and accounting requirements, transaction approval requirements, requirements of the regional transmission organization in which they operate, and foreign investment regulations. Violations of current or future requirements, whether intentional or unintentional, or failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals may result in substantial costs, sanctions or penalties that, under some circumstances, could have a material adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our operations and other regulated activities are subject to audit by FERC, which may conduct routine or special audits and issue requests designed to ensure compliance with FERC rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Owners, operators and users of the bulk electric system are subject to mandatory reliability standards promulgated by NERC and approved by FERC.
The standards are based on the functions that need to be performed to ensure that the bulk electric system operates reliably. NERC, FERC and RFC continue to refine existing reliability standards as well as develop and adopt new reliability standards. The reliability standards address operation, planning and security of the bulk electric system, including requirements with respect to real-time transmission operations, emergency operations, vegetation management, critical infrastructure protection and personnel training. Compliance with modified or new reliability standards may subject the FET Subsidiaries to higher operating costs and/or increased capital expenditures. If one of the FET Subsidiaries were found not to be in compliance with one or more of the mandatory reliability standards, we or such subsidiary could be subject to sanctions, including substantial monetary penalties.
Monetary penalties for violations of reliability standards vary based on an assigned risk factor for each potential violation, the severity of the violation and various other circumstances, such as whether the violation was intentional or concealed, whether there are repeated violations, the degree of the violator's cooperation in investigating and remediating the violation and the presence of a compliance program. FERC has authority under the FPA to impose penalties up to and including $1.5 million per day, subject thereafter to annual adjustments for inflation, for failure to comply with these mandatory reliability standards. Potential non-monetary sanctions include imposing limitations on the violator's activities or operation and placing the violator on a watch list for major violators.
The FET Subsidiaries are also subject to requirements under Sections 203, 204 and 205 of the FPA, including the requirement to obtain prior FERC approval of certain transactions, issuances of securities and assumptions of liabilities; reporting, recordkeeping and accounting requirements; and for filing rate tariffs and contracts related to the provision of services subject to FERC jurisdiction. Under FERC policy, failure to file a jurisdictional tariff or agreement on a timely basis may result in an entity having to refund the time value of revenues collected under the relevant tariff or agreement. The failure to obtain timely approval of transactions subject to Section 203 of the FPA or of issuances of securities or assumptions of liabilities under Section 204 of the FPA, or to comply with applicable filing, reporting, recordkeeping or accounting requirements under Section 205 of the FPA, could subject the FET Subsidiaries to penalties. FERC has authority under the FPA to impose penalties in 2025 up to and including $1.5 million per day, subject thereafter to annual adjustments for inflation, per violation of the FPA or rules or orders issued pursuant thereto.
Despite the FET Subsidiaries' best efforts to comply and FirstEnergy's implementation of a compliance program intended to ensure reliability and compliance with the FPA and rules and orders issued by FERC, there can be no assurance that violations that could result in material penalties or sanctions will not occur. If any of the FET Subsidiaries were to violate mandatory reliability standards or other NERC or FERC requirements, even unintentionally, in any material way, any penalties or sanctions imposed against us or the FET Subsidiaries could have a material adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
In addition to direct regulation by FERC, the FET Subsidiaries are also subject to rules and terms of participation imposed and administered by PJM. Although PJM is itself ultimately regulated by FERC, it can impose rules, restrictions and terms of service that are quasi-regulatory in nature and could have a material adverse impact on our and the FET Subsidiaries' business. For example, PJM may direct the FET Subsidiaries or other transmission-owning affiliates to build new transmission facilities to meet PJM's reliability requirements or to provide new or expanded transmission service under the PJM OATT. Compliance with PJM's rules may subject the FET Subsidiaries to higher operating costs and/or increased capital expenditures.
CFIUS is an interagency body of the U.S. government authorized to review certain foreign investment transactions in domestic businesses in order to determine the effect of such transactions on the national security of the United States of America. We sought CFIUS approval for the FET Equity Interest Sale. On November 24, 2023, CFIUS concluded its review of the FET Equity Interest Sale and determined that there are no unresolved national security concerns. As part of the resolution of the CFIUS review, we entered into an NSA with certain CMAs. Pursuant to the NSA, we have agreed to protect our data by, among other things, implementing a security policy, appointing a security officer, and periodically reporting to the CMAs. Our operating results may be negatively affected if we fail to comply with our obligations under the NSA, we may be subject to potential penalties.
Any failure by the FET Subsidiaries to comply with any applicable regulations or any limitations on the FET Subsidiaries' ability to raise capital and/or pursue acquisitions, development opportunities or other transactions imposed by any such regulations could have a material adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
Complex and changing government regulations, including those associated with rates and transmission planning, could have a negative impact on our results of operations.
Each of the FET Subsidiaries is regulated by FERC as a "public utility" under the FPA and is a transmission owner in PJM. We cannot predict whether FERC will change its policies or regulations, or whether the approved transmission rates or rate determination mechanism or methodology for any of the FET Subsidiaries will be changed. In addition, the U.S. Congress periodically considers enacting energy legislation that could give FERC new responsibilities, modify provisions of the FPA, or provide FERC or another entity with increased authority to regulate rates and services for the transmission of electricity. We cannot predict whether, or to what extent, the FET Subsidiaries may be affected by any such changes in federal energy laws, regulations or policies in the future.
The FET Subsidiaries each use a formula rate template to calculate their respective annual revenue requirements. Under the FPA, their formula rates will remain in effect until they obtain approval from FERC pursuant to Section 205 of the FPA to change to a different mechanism or until FERC determines in a proceeding under Section 206 of the FPA that the formula rate or any aspect of such rate is unjust and unreasonable or is unduly discriminatory or preferential. Such a determination could result from a challenge initiated at FERC by an interested party, or by FERC on its own initiative. State utility commissions, transmission customers, end-use consumers and entities supplying electricity to end-use consumers may attempt to influence the government and/or regulators to change the FET Subsidiaries' formula rate template and/or their approved ROE, particularly if transmission rates increase substantially. As such, there can be no assurance that the FET Subsidiaries will obtain their expected revenue requirements in future Section 205 rate proceedings. The inability of the FET Subsidiaries to obtain their expected revenue requirements would have a negative impact on our results of operations.
FERC policy currently permits recovery of prudently incurred costs associated with cost-of-service-based wholesale power rates and the expansion and updating of transmission infrastructure within its jurisdiction. FERC's policies on recovery of transmission costs continue to evolve, evidenced by ongoing proceedings to determine an appropriate ROE methodology to determine transmission ROEs, to determine whether FERC's existing policies on transmission rate incentives should be revised, and to determine whether certain classes of network transmission upgrade costs can be capitalized and recovered in transmission rates and whether such costs will be direct charged to the connecting customer. If FERC were to adopt a different policy regarding recovery of transmission costs or if there is any resulting delay in cost recovery, our strategy of investing in transmission could be adversely affected. If FERC were to lower the rate of return it has authorized for the FET Subsidiaries' cost-based wholesale power rates or transmission investments and facilities, it could reduce future earnings and cash flows, and adversely impact our financial condition.
On March 20, 2020, FERC initiated a rulemaking proceeding on the transmission rate incentives provisions of Section 219 of the 2005 Energy Policy Act. FirstEnergy is a member of PJM and the FET Subsidiaries could be affected by the supplemental proposed rule. In a supplemental rulemaking proceeding that was initiated on April 15, 2021, FERC requested comments on, among other things, whether to require utilities that have been members of an RTO for three years or more and that have been collecting an "RTO membership" ROE incentive adder to file tariff updates that would terminate collection of the incentive adder. FirstEnergy participated in comments on the initial and supplemental rulemaking proceedings that were submitted by a group of PJM transmission owners and by various industry trade groups, including EEI. The rulemaking remains pending before FERC. If there were to be any changes to FirstEnergy transmission incentive ROE, such changes will be applied on a prospective basis and could have a negative impact on our results of operations.
On December 19, 2024, a group representing large industrial customers and state consumer advocates filed a complaint at FERC that asserts that transmission owners are overbuilding "local transmission facilities" with corresponding unjustified increases in transmission rates. The complaint demands that FERC: (i) prohibit transmission owners from planning "local transmission facilities" that are rated at 100 kV or higher, (ii) appoint "independent transmission monitors" to conduct such planning, and (iii) condition construction of local transmission facilities on the facility having been planned by the "independent transmission monitor." FirstEnergy expects to participate in this matter through a consortium of PJM transmission owners and through certain trade groups, including EEI. We are unable to predict the outcome or estimate the impact that this complaint may have on our subsidiaries, however, the granting of this complaint could have a material impact on our transmission capital investment strategy and our results of operations.
FERC, at the instruction of the U.S. Secretary of Energy, is also considering whether to develop regulations that would speed interconnection of AI data centers and "hybrid" data center/generation facilities (collectively, "large loads") to the transmission system. Final regulations, if any, from FERC are expected in the second quarter of 2026. To the extent the new regulations do not permit transmission utilities to fully recover costs associated with transmission network upgrades required to serve new large loads, our strategy of investing in transmission could be affected adversely.
Certain elements of the FET Subsidiaries' cost recovery through rates can be challenged, which could result in lower rates and/or refunds of amounts previously collected and thus have an adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The FET Subsidiaries provide electric transmission service under rates regulated by FERC. FERC has allowed the use by the FET Subsidiaries of formula rate mechanisms set forth in the PJM OATT. However, under the formula rate mechanisms, FERC is not required to approve the amount of actual capital and operating expenditures used in the formulas. The FET Subsidiaries update the inputs to their formula rate templates annually. MAIT and ATSI post to PJM's website their PTRR each October 5 and October 15, respectively, to be effective for the following Rate Year. The PTRR represents the amount of revenue necessary to recover projected prudently-incurred expenses and a return on projected rate base, consisting primarily of property, plant and equipment on a 13-month average, for the Rate Year. MAIT and ATSI on each June 1 and May 1, respectively, calculate actual results for the previous Rate Year and compare them to the amount PJM billed on their behalf based on the PTRR for that Rate Year and include the resulting true-up in the PTRR for the coming Rate Year. Each May 15, TrAIL posts to PJM's website its "Annual Update" consisting of (1) a "Reconciliation" reflecting its actual revenue requirement for the previous calendar year and (2) a "Forecast" reflecting the Reconciliation plus projected capital projects placed into service for the current calendar year as
well as a true-up for the difference between the previous calendar year Forecast and Reconciliation. During June 1 through May 31 of each year, PJM bills, on behalf of TrAIL, TrAIL's revenue requirement determined by its Forecast.
The FET Subsidiaries' formula rate updates are posted on PJM's website and are subject to discovery requests and challenges by interested parties under provisions specified in the FET Subsidiaries' formula rate implementation protocols in the PJM OATT. In addition, all aspects of the FET Subsidiaries' formula rates on file with FERC, including the ROE (including any incentive rates) on the actual equity portion of the FET Subsidiaries' capital structure and the data inputs provided by the FET Subsidiaries for calculation of each year's rates, are subject to challenge by interested parties before FERC pursuant to the formula rate protocols or in a proceeding instituted under Section 206 of the FPA. In a formal challenge pursuant to the protocols, the burden of proof is on the FET Subsidiaries to demonstrate that the rate, or any aspect thereof, is just, reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential. However, in a Section 206 proceeding, the burden of proof is on the challenger to demonstrate that any aspect of the rate is unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory or preferential. If the FET Subsidiaries fail to meet the burden of proof in a challenge under the protocols or a challenger meets its burden of proof in a Section 206 proceeding, then FERC will make appropriate adjustments to the challenged rate. In a Section 206 complaint proceeding, the refund effective date is no earlier than the date the complaint was filed and no later than five months after the date the complaint was filed. Such challenges could result in a lower rate and/or refunds of amounts collected during the annual update period to which the challenge under the protocols applied or commencing on the refund effective date established by FERC in a Section 206 proceeding. Such a result could have an adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
In addition, FERC policy currently permits recovery of prudently-incurred costs associated with the expansion of transmission infrastructure within its jurisdiction. If FERC were to adopt a different policy regarding recovery of transmission costs or if transmission needs do not continue or develop as projected, FirstEnergy's strategy of investing in transmission could be affected. If FERC were to lower the rates of return it has authorized for the FET Subsidiaries, it could have an adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
External pressures beyond our control may increase customer rates and impair our ability to earn a fair and equitable return on our investments and execute our strategy.
PJM's recent capacity auctions have been subject to a "price collar" that has resulted from all-time high generation capacity prices in recent auction outcomes. These all-time high capacity prices ultimately are passed through in retail rates and can result in material increases in retail customers' monthly electric utility bills. On January 16, 2026, various federal and state officials, as well as the PJM board, expressed interest in extending the price collar through mid-2030.
In addition, and also on January 16, 2026, federal and state regulators and PJM suggested that PJM should conduct a "backstop" auction to procure additional generation capacity, with the costs to be allocated first to "new" data centers and second to existing PJM loads. If the PJM capacity auctions continue to clear at the auction cap, and if PJM conducts a "backstop" capacity auction that clears at a high price point, customer resistance to the resulting market driven increases on the generation portion of their bills could lead to increased pressure for federal utility regulators to limit the needed capital investment in transmission systems required for safe, reliable and resilient service to customers, which may impair our ability to earn a fair and equitable return on our investments and execute our strategy.
As our planned $11.6 billion in system-wide capital investments from 2026 through 2030 may increase customer bills over time, the resulting higher electric bills, when combined with the external pressures discussed above, may place pressure on residential customers' affordability, particularly in portions of our service territory with lower median household income or high energy burdens, and/or amongst those customers who have already seen significant retail bill increases. Federal regulators may also adopt or modify policies intended to mitigate customer bill impacts, such as changes to rate design or restrictions on rate increases. Customer concerns regarding affordability may result in increased regulatory scrutiny, constraints on the size and timing of rate increases, expanded bill mitigation requirements, or disallowances, any of which could adversely affect our ability to recover costs or earn our authorized return on equity. In addition, sustained increases in customer bills may lead to reduced electricity usage through conservation, energy efficiency, or distributed generation, which could limit future load growth and investment opportunities and could have an adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The FET Subsidiaries' actual capital expenditures may be lower than planned, which would decrease their expected rate bases and therefore their and our revenues and earnings compared to current expectations.
The FET Subsidiaries' rate bases, revenues and earnings are determined in part by additions to property, plant and equipment and when those additions are placed in service. We expect that the FET Subsidiaries will continue to make significant capital investments over the next three years across their respective electric transmission systems. In particular, the FET Subsidiaries and joint ventures are expected to make $11.6 billion in capital investments from 2026 through 2030 to upgrade their transmission systems. If such capital investment and the resulting in-service property, plant and equipment are lower than anticipated for any reason, the FET Subsidiaries will have lower than anticipated rate bases, thus causing the FET Subsidiaries' revenue requirements and future earnings to be potentially lower than anticipated, which, in turn, could restrict the amount of cash such subsidiary can distribute to us and thereby negatively affect our ability to meet our debt and other monetary
obligations, including obligations under our indebtedness. Reasons that capital expenditures may be lower than expected may include, among others, the impact of weather conditions, union strikes, labor shortages, material and equipment prices and availability, limitations on the amount of construction that can be undertaken on the FET Subsidiaries' systems at any one time, regulatory approvals relating to environmental, siting or regional planning issues, legal proceedings related to the FET Subsidiaries' transmission projects and variances between estimated and actual costs of construction contracts awarded.
The FET Subsidiaries depend on PJM transmission service customers for a substantial portion of their revenues, and any material failure by any of those customers to make payments for transmission service could adversely affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The FET Subsidiaries recover their revenue requirements through rates charged by PJM to transmission customers that utilize their facilities. Although PJM bills and collects transmission revenues on behalf of the FET Subsidiaries and other transmission owners and has established credit requirements designed to protect the FET Subsidiaries as well as other transmission owners and other market participants in the event of a payment default by a PJM customer, a material failure by one or more of those customers to make payments for transmission service could adversely affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
Failure to retain and attract skilled professionals and technical employees could have an adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our business is dependent on the ability of the FET Subsidiaries' affiliates and that of their contractors to recruit, retain and motivate employees and contractors. Competition for skilled workers in some areas is high. The FET Subsidiaries' affiliates and contractors must find ways to balance the retention of an aging skilled workforce while recruiting new talent to mitigate losses in critical knowledge and skills due to retirements.
Further, a significant number of our affiliates and their contractors' physical workforce are represented by unions. While we believe that our relations with their employees are generally fair, neither the FET Subsidiaries nor we can provide assurances that the FET Subsidiaries will be completely free of labor disruptions such as work stoppages, work slowdowns, union organizing campaigns, strikes or lockouts or that any existing labor disruption will be favorably resolved.
Mitigating these risks could require additional financial commitments and the failure to prevent labor disruptions and retain and/or attract trained and qualified labor could have an adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
Our insurance coverage may not provide protection against all significant losses and our ability to obtain insurance coverage, as well as the terms of any available insurance coverage could be materially adversely affected by international, national, state or local events and company-specific events, as well as the financial condition of insurers.
If we cannot or do not obtain adequate insurance coverage, we may be required to pay costs associated with adverse future events. Through a combination of third-party and self-insurance, we have a comprehensive insurance program in place to provide coverage for various types of risks, including severe weather or other natural disasters, war, terrorism, cyber incidents, liability claims against us, or a combination of other significant unforeseen events that could impact our operations. However, insurance coverage may not continue to be available or may not be available at rates or on terms similar to those presently available to us. Our ability to obtain insurance and the terms of any available insurance coverage could be materially adversely affected by the financial condition of insurers, the impacts of actual or perceived climate-related events, as well as international, national, state, local or company-specific events.
There may be some instances in which we are not fully insured against all significant losses. A loss for which we are not fully insured could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Acts of war, terrorist attacks and threats or the escalation of military activity in response to such attacks or otherwise may negatively affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
As a result of the continued threat of physical acts of war, terrorism, sabotage or other attacks in the United States, the FET Subsidiaries' electric transmission facilities and other infrastructure and the generation and distribution facilities and other infrastructure of the FET Subsidiaries' customers, suppliers and other interconnected parties, including power plants, transformers and high-voltage lines and substations, or the facilities or other infrastructure of an interconnected company, could be direct targets of, or indirect casualties of, an act of war, terrorism, sabotage or other attack, which could result in disruption of the FET Subsidiaries' ability to transmit electricity for a significant period of time, otherwise disrupt customer operations and/or result in incidents that could result in harmful effects on the environment and human health, including loss of life. Any such disruption or incident could result in a significant decrease in revenue, significant additional capital and operating costs, including costs to implement additional security systems or personnel to replace or repair the assets of the FET Subsidiaries over and above any available insurance reimbursement, higher insurance deductibles, higher premiums and more restrictive insurance policies, legal claims or proceedings, greater regulation with higher attendant costs, generally, and significant damage to our or the FET Subsidiaries' reputations, which could have a material adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
The FET Subsidiaries are subject to environmental regulations and to laws that can give rise to substantial expenses for environmental compliance and contamination.
The operations of the FET Subsidiaries are subject to federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, which impose limitations on the discharge of pollutants into the environment, establish standards for the management, treatment, storage, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials and of solid and hazardous wastes and impose obligations to investigate and remediate contamination in certain circumstances. Liabilities to investigate or remediate contamination, as well as other liabilities concerning hazardous materials or contamination, such as claims for personal injury or property damage, may arise at many locations, including formerly owned or operated properties and sites where wastes have been treated or disposed of, as well as at properties currently owned or operated by the FET Subsidiaries. Such liabilities may arise even where the contamination does not result from noncompliance with applicable environmental laws. Under a number of environmental laws, such liabilities may also be joint and several, meaning that a party can be held responsible for more than its share of the liability involved, or even the entire share. Environmental requirements generally have become more stringent over time, and compliance with those requirements has become more expensive.
The FET Subsidiaries have incurred expenses in connection with environmental compliance, and we anticipate that they will continue to do so in the future. Failure to comply with the extensive environmental laws and regulations applicable to the FET Subsidiaries could result in significant civil or criminal penalties and remediation costs. The FET Subsidiaries' assets and operations also involve the use of materials classified as hazardous, toxic, or otherwise dangerous. Some of the FET Subsidiaries' facilities and properties are located near environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands and habitats of endangered, threatened or otherwise protected species. These sensitive areas increase the expense of current operations and siting requirements for future operations. Compliance with these laws and regulations, and liabilities concerning contamination or hazardous materials, may adversely affect the FET Subsidiaries' costs and, therefore, our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
In addition, claims have been made or threatened against electric utilities for bodily injury, disease or other damages allegedly related to exposure to electromagnetic fields associated with electric transmission and distribution lines and climate change alleged to result from greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot assure you that such claims will not be asserted against us or the FET Subsidiaries or that, if determined in a manner adverse to our interests, such claims would not have a material effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay interest on, and the principal of, our indebtedness.
Significant increases in the FET Subsidiaries' operation and maintenance expenses, including health care and pension costs, could adversely affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' future earnings and liquidity.
We do not have any employees and have contracted with FESC, a direct wholly owned subsidiary of FE, to provide us with corporate, administrative, management and other services. To the extent that FESC is subject to increases in expenses in connection with the services that it provides to us, we will therefore face corresponding cost increases in fees paid to FESC. The FET Subsidiaries expect to continue to face increased cost pressures related to such operation and maintenance expenses, including in the areas of health care and pension costs. For example, the FET Subsidiaries have experienced cost increases that correlate with health care cost inflation in recent years, and we therefore expect cash outlay for health care costs, including prescription drug coverage, to continue to increase despite measures taken to limit obligations to future retirees and requiring employees to bear a higher portion of the costs of their health care benefits. The measurement of the expected future health care and pension obligations and costs is highly dependent on a variety of assumptions, many of which relate to factors beyond FESC's, or the FET Subsidiaries' control. These assumptions include investment returns, interest rates, discount rates, health care cost trends, benefit design changes, salary increases, the demographics of plan participants and regulatory requirements. While we anticipate that our services fees paid to FESC will continue to increase, in part due to increasing operation and maintenance expenses, if actual results differ materially from our assumptions, our costs could be significantly higher than expected, which could adversely affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' results of operations, financial condition and liquidity because such costs could not be passed through to our customers.
Our results may be adversely affected by the volatility in pension and other post-employment benefit expenses.
FirstEnergy recognizes in income the change in the fair value of plan assets and net actuarial gains and losses for the portion of the FirstEnergy defined benefit pension and OPEB plans that ultimately are attributed to the FET Subsidiaries. This adjustment to income associated with the change in fair value is recognized in the fourth quarter of each year and whenever a plan is determined to qualify for a remeasurement, which could result in greater volatility in pension and OPEB expenses and may materially impact the results of operations of the FET Subsidiaries. Certain of the plan assets held in these trusts do not have readily determinable market values. Changes in the estimates and assumptions inherent in the value of these assets could affect the value of the trusts. If the value of the assets held by the trusts declines by a material amount, the funding obligation of the FET Subsidiaries to the trusts could materially increase. These assets are subject to market fluctuations and may yield uncertain returns, which may fall below FirstEnergy's projected return rates. Forecasting investment earnings and costs to pay future pension and other benefit obligations, requires significant judgment and actual results may differ significantly from current estimates. Capital market conditions that generate investment losses or that negatively impact the discount rate and increase the
present value of liabilities may have significant impacts on the value of the pension and other trust funds, which could require significant additional funding and negatively impact the results of operations and financial position of the FET Subsidiaries.
Cyber-attacks, data security breaches and other disruptions to our and the FET Subsidiaries' information technology systems could compromise our and the FET Subsidiaries' business operations, critical and proprietary information and contractor employee and customer data, which could have a material adverse effect on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, financial condition and reputations.
In the ordinary course of their business, the FET Subsidiaries and their affiliates depend on information technology systems that utilize sophisticated operational systems and network infrastructure to run all facets of our business.
Additionally, FET, the FET Subsidiaries and our affiliates store sensitive data, intellectual property and proprietary or personally identifiable information regarding our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, contractor employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, business partners and other individuals in our individual and collective data centers and on our respective networks. We may also need to provide sensitive data to vendors and service providers who require access to this information. The secure maintenance of information and information technology systems is critical to FET and the FET Subsidiaries' operations.
Over the last several years, there has been an increase in the frequency of cyber-attacks by terrorists, hackers, international activist organizations, foreign governments and individuals. These and other unauthorized parties may attempt to gain access to our and the FET Subsidiaries' network systems or facilities, or those of third parties with whom we or our subsidiaries do business, including directly through network infrastructure or through fraud, trickery, or other forms of deception against our and the FET Subsidiaries' employees, contractors and temporary staff. Additionally, our and the FET Subsidiaries' information and information technology systems and those of our vendors and service providers may be increasingly vulnerable to data security breaches, damage and/or interruption due to viruses, ransomware, unauthorized physical access, theft of access devices, human error, malfeasance, faulty password management or other malfunctions and disruptions. Further, hardware, software, or applications we or the FET Subsidiaries develop or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information and/or security.
As a source of critical infrastructure, the energy industry is at heightened threat of cyber-attacks, which are becoming increasingly more difficult to anticipate and prevent due to their rapidly evolving nature. We cannot anticipate, detect, or implement fully preventive measures against all cybersecurity threats because the techniques used are increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving, and in some cases, assisted by artificial intelligence.
In addition, the increased use of smartphones, tablets and other wireless devices, as well as ongoing remote work-from-home arrangements, may also heighten these and other operational risks.
Our and the FET Subsidiaries' infrastructure, as well as the transmission facilities of third parties with whom we are interconnected may be increasingly vulnerable to such attacks as a result of the rapidly evolving and increasingly sophisticated means by which attempts to defeat our and the FET Subsidiaries' security measures and gain access to information technology systems may be made. As our transmission facilities are interconnected with those of third parties, the operation of our facilities could be adversely affected by cyber-attacks or other unexpected or uncontrollable events occurring on the systems of such third parties.
Any actual or perceived cyber-attack, data security breach, damage, interruption and/or defect could: (i) disable the FET Subsidiaries' operations for a significant period of time; (ii) delay development and construction of new facilities or capital improvement projects; (iii) adversely affect the FET Subsidiaries' customers' operations; (iv) expose us to increased risk of lawsuits; (v) expose us to increased risk of regulatory penalties; (vi) expose us to increased risk of loss of potential or existing customers; (vii) expose us to increased risk of damage relating to loss of proprietary information; (viii) corrupt data; and/or (ix) result in unauthorized access to the information stored in our and the FET Subsidiaries' data centers and on our respective networks and those of our vendors and service providers, including company proprietary information, supplier information, employee data and personal customer data, causing the information to be publicly disclosed, lost or stolen or result in incidents that could result in economic loss and liability and harmful effects on the environment and human health, including loss of life.
We rely on, and are supported by, FirstEnergy's cyber security risk management program. As cyber threats continually evolve, including those that exploit advances in technologies such as artificial intelligence, and become more difficult to detect and successfully defend against, there can be no assurance that we, the FET Subsidiaries or FE can implement or maintain adequate preventive measures, accurately assess the likelihood of a cyber-incident or quantify potential liabilities or losses. Also, we, the FET Subsidiaries or FE may not discover any data security breach and loss of information for a significant period of time after the data security breach occurs, particularly those of our vendors and service providers.
For all of these reasons, for any of the FET Subsidiaries, any such cyber incident could result in significant lost revenue, the inability to conduct critical business functions and serve customers for a significant period of time, the loss of confidential, sensitive and proprietary information, including but not limited to personal information of customers, contractor and affiliate employees, suppliers, vendors and other third parties, the use of significant management resources, legal claims or proceedings, regulatory penalties, significant remediation costs, increased regulation, increased capital costs, increased protection costs for
enhanced cybersecurity systems or personnel, and/or damage to our and the FET Subsidiaries' reputations, all of which could materially adversely affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.
Energy companies are subject to adverse publicity that makes them vulnerable to negative regulatory and legislative outcomes.
Energy companies, including the FET Subsidiaries, have been the subject of criticism on matters including the reliability of their electric distribution or transmission systems and services and the speed with which they are able to respond to power outages, such as those caused by storm damage. Adverse publicity of this nature, as well as negative publicity associated with the operation of coal-fired generation or proceedings seeking regulatory recoveries may cause less favorable legislative and regulatory outcomes and damage the FET Subsidiaries' reputations, which could have an adverse impact on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses and financial condition.
The physical risks associated with climate change may have an adverse impact on our and the FET Subsidiaries' businesses, operating results and cash flows.
Physical risks of climate change such as flooding, wildfires, rising sea levels, and other related phenomena, resulting from more frequent or more extreme weather events and changes in temperature and precipitation patterns associated with climate change, could affect some, or all, of our operations. Frequent or extreme weather events could disrupt our operations and/or be destructive, which could result in increased costs, including supply chain costs. An extreme weather event within the FET Subsidiaries' service areas could also directly affect their capital assets, such as downed wires, poles, or damage to other operating equipment, resulting in service disruptions to customers and possibly creating hazardous conditions. Further, as extreme weather conditions increase system stress, we may incur costs relating to additional system backup or service interruptions and, in some instances, we may be unable to recover such costs. For all of these reasons, these physical risks could have an adverse financial impact on our business operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Climate change poses other financial risks as well. To the extent weather conditions are affected by climate change, customers' energy use could increase or decrease depending on the duration and magnitude of the changes. Increased energy use due to weather changes may require us to invest in additional system assets and purchase additional power. Additionally, decreased energy use due to weather changes may affect our financial condition through decreased revenues, margins or earnings.
Transition risks associated with climate change, including those related to regulatory mandates, could negatively impact our financial results.
Energy conservation could negatively impact us depending on the regulatory treatment of the associated impacts. Should we be required to invest in conservation measures that result in reduced sales from effective conservation, regulatory lag in adjusting rates for the impact of these measures could have a negative financial impact. We are unable to determine what impact, if any, future conservation activities will have on our financial condition or results of operations.
Future changes in accounting standards may affect our reported financial results.
As a reporting company subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, we are subject to certain disclosure requirements, including those that relate to accounting standards. The SEC, the FASB or other authoritative bodies or governmental entities may issue new pronouncements or new interpretations of existing accounting standards that may require us to change our accounting policies. These changes are beyond our control, can be difficult to predict and could materially impact how we report our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, which could adversely affect our financial position.
Changes in local, state or federal tax laws applicable to us and the FET Subsidiaries, including the IRA of 2022 or adverse audit results or tax rulings and any resulting increases in taxes and fees, may adversely affect our and the FET Subsidiaries' results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We and the FET Subsidiaries are subject to various local, state and federal taxes, including income, franchise, real estate, sales and use related taxes. We and the FET Subsidiaries exercise significant judgment in calculating such tax obligations, booking reserves as necessary to reflect potential adverse outcomes regarding tax positions we and the FET Subsidiaries have taken and utilizing tax benefits, such as carryforwards and credits. Additionally, various tax rate and fee increases may be proposed or considered in connection with such changes in local, state or federal tax law. We cannot predict whether legislation or regulations will be introduced, the form of any legislation or regulations, or whether any such legislation or regulations will be passed by legislatures or regulatory bodies. Any such changes, or any adverse tax audit results or adverse tax rulings on positions taken by us or the FET Subsidiaries could have a negative impact on our and the FET Subsidiaries' results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Specifically, the IRA of 2022 imposes a corporate AMT and, if applicable, corporations must pay the greater of the regular corporate income tax or the AMT. While we continue to believe, more likely than not, that we and the FET Subsidiaries will be subject to corporate AMT, additional IRS guidance issued on February 18, 2026, provides certain tax repair deductions in calculating corporate AMT, which may reduce our AMT estimates or our conclusions as to whether we and the FET Subsidiaries are an AMT payer. We continue to evaluate this most recent AMT guidance, as well as prior guidance issued by the U.S.
Treasury and IRS. For periods subsequent to the closing of the FET Equity Interest Sale, we and the FET subsidiaries file a consolidated federal income tax return and are parties to an intercompany income tax allocation agreement. For periods prior to the closing of the FET Equity Interest Sale, we and the FET Subsidiaries were parties to an intercompany income tax allocation agreement with FirstEnergy and, accordingly, could be allocated a share of any corporate AMT paid by the FirstEnergy consolidated tax group for those periods. The regulatory treatment of the IRA of 2022 may also be subject to regulation by FERC and/or applicable state regulatory authorities. Any adverse development in the IRA of 2022, including additional guidance from the U.S. Treasury and/or the IRS, or unfavorable regulatory treatment, could negatively impact our and the FET Subsidiaries' cash flows, results of operations and financial condition.
ATSI's and MAIT's respective rights to occupy and use the land and rights-of-way leased pursuant to Ground Leases upon or over which a substantial portion of their transmission facilities are located could be impaired by transfers of the leased property or because the Ground Leases do not describe the leased property with specificity.
Neither the Ground Leases nor any memoranda of the Ground Leases have been recorded in the jurisdictions where the relevant land and rights-of-way are located. Accordingly, in the event of a transfer by the owner of land or rights-of-way that are subject to a Ground Lease, there is a risk that a purchaser acting in good faith and without actual or constructive knowledge of ATSI's or MAIT's interests under the Ground Lease could obtain rights in such land and rights-of-way that are superior to that of ATSI or MAIT under such Ground Lease.
The descriptions of the leased property contained in the Ground Leases are general in nature and do not specifically identify, by metes and bounds legal descriptions or otherwise, individual parcels of property (or specific leased portions of parcels). The Ground Leases do, however, reference bills of sale and other documents containing detailed information regarding the location of the transmission assets that is useful in identifying the leased property. Because of the lack of specificity in the property descriptions in the Ground Leases, in the event of a challenge to ATSI's or MAIT's rights to any leased property under the Ground Leases, a court may be required to inquire beyond the actual terms of the Ground Leases to determine the full scope of ATSI's and MAIT's rights to such leased property, which inquiry may include an examination of such bills of sale and other documents. If in such a case the court is unable to specifically identify the property in question, the scope of ATSI's and MAIT's rights to access such property and operate related transmission facilities could be limited to something less than a complete leasehold interest, such as a contractual right to enter into a lease, or an access license, or an equitable right similar thereto. To the extent that there are defects or other imperfections with respect to the title to any of ATSI's or MAIT's assets or those ATSI or MAIT leases under the Ground Leases, ATSI, MAIT or we may incur significant expense or experience other financial losses in connection with, for example, legal proceedings contesting the validity of ATSI's or MAIT's title.
We are entirely dependent on FE and its affiliates, including FESC, for key personnel, including our executive officers, and other operational support. The unavailability of skilled workers, failure to attract and retain qualified personnel, and changes in our key personnel could adversely affect us.
We have contracted with FESC to provide us with corporate, administrative, management and other services under a service agreement. We depend on FESC hiring and retaining personnel sufficient to provide us support for our and our subsidiaries' day-to day operations.
Our executive officers are employees of FESC and officers of FE. We do not maintain key person life insurance policies on any personnel, and we do not have any employment contracts or other agreements with key personnel binding them to provide services for any particular term. The loss of the services of any of these individuals could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, our future success will depend in part on FESC's ability to attract and retain, additional qualified personnel.
We are also dependent on other subsidiaries of FE, including FESC, to provide goods and services to us under a mutual assistance agreement. If FESC or other subsidiaries of FE are unable or unwilling to perform for any reason or terminate the mutual assistance and service agreements, we would be required to engage substitute service providers. This could result in a significant interference with operations and increased costs.
Risks Associated with Financing and Capital Structure
In the event of volatility or unfavorable conditions in the capital and credit markets, our business, including the immediate availability and cost of short-term funds for liquidity requirements and our ability to meet long-term commitments, may be adversely affected, which could negatively impact our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.
We rely on the capital and credit markets and our FET Revolving Facility to meet both our long-term financial commitments and short-term liquidity needs if internal funds are not available from our operations. We also deposit cash in short-term investments. In the event of volatility in the capital and credit markets, our ability to access the capital markets or draw on the FET Revolving Facility and obtain cash may be adversely affected. Our access to funds under the FET Revolving Facility is dependent on the ability of the financial institutions that are parties to the FET Revolving Facility to meet their funding commitments. Those institutions may not be able to meet their funding commitments if they experience shortages of capital and liquidity or if they experience excessive volumes of borrowing requests within a short period of time. Any delay in our ability to access those funds, even for a short period of time, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Should there be fluctuations in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty, changing or increased regulation, reduced alternatives or failures of significant foreign or domestic financial institutions or foreign governments, our access to liquidity needed for our business could be adversely affected. Unfavorable conditions could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs can be arranged. Such measures could include deferring capital expenditures and reducing or eliminating future dividend payments or other discretionary uses of cash. Energy markets depend heavily on active participation by multiple counterparties, which could be adversely affected should there be disruptions in the capital and credit markets. Reduced capital and liquidity and failures of significant institutions that participate in the energy markets could diminish the liquidity and competitiveness of energy markets that are important to our business. Perceived weaknesses in the competitive strength of the energy markets could lead to pressures for greater regulation of those markets or attempts to replace those market structures with other mechanisms for the sale of power, including the requirement of long-term contracts, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.
Interest rates and/or a credit rating downgrade could negatively affect our financing costs and ability to access capital.
We have near-term exposure to interest rates from outstanding indebtedness indexed to variable interest rates, and we have exposure to future interest rates to the extent we seek to raise debt in the capital markets to meet maturing debt obligations and fund capital contributions to the FET Subsidiaries or other investment opportunities. Past disruptions in capital and credit markets, as well as quantitative tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, have resulted in higher interest rates on newly issued debt securities and increased costs for variable interest rate debt securities. Disruptions in capital and credit markets, or continued quantitative tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, could result in higher interest rates on newly issued debt securities and increase our financing costs and adversely affect our results of operations, cash flows and liquidity. Also, interest rates could change as a result of economic or other events that are beyond our risk management processes. As a result, we cannot always predict the impact that our risk management decisions may have on us if actual events lead to greater losses or costs than our risk management positions were intended to hedge. Significant and sustained increases in market interest rates could materially increase our financing costs and negatively impact our reported results of operations, cash flows and liquidity.
We expect to rely on access to bank and capital markets in the future as sources of liquidity for cash requirements not satisfied by cash distributions from the FET Subsidiaries. Increased scrutiny of the energy industry and the impacts of regulation, as well as changes in our or the FET Subsidiaries' financial performance, could result in credit agencies reexamining our or the FET Subsidiaries' credit ratings. A downgrade in our or the FET Subsidiaries' credit ratings from the nationally recognized credit rating agencies, particularly to levels below investment grade, could negatively affect our or the FET Subsidiaries' ability to access the bank and capital markets at attractive rates and increase our or the FET Subsidiaries' borrowing costs, especially in a time of uncertainty in either of those markets. Furthermore, a downgrade could increase the cost of such capital by causing us to incur higher interest rates and fees associated with such capital. A rating downgrade would also further increase our interest expense on our FET Revolving Facility and would also further increase the fees we pay on our FET Revolving Facility, thus increasing the cost of our working capital. Such a rating downgrade could also negatively impact our ability to grow our business or execute our business strategies by substantially increasing the cost of, or limiting access to, capital.
Further, events related to the ongoing government investigations may expose us to higher interest rates for additional indebtedness, whether as a result of a rating downgrade or otherwise, which could restrict our ability to obtain additional or replacement financing on acceptable terms or at all.
We must rely on cash from the FET Subsidiaries to make payments on our Indebtedness.
As a holding company with no business operations and no material assets other than the stock and membership interests in the FET Subsidiaries, we conduct our operations primarily through the FET Subsidiaries and substantially all of our consolidated assets are held by the FET Subsidiaries. Accordingly, our cash flow and our ability to meet our obligations under our indebtedness are largely dependent upon the earnings of the FET Subsidiaries and the distribution or other payment of these earnings to us in the form of dividends. The FET Subsidiaries are separate and distinct legal entities and have no obligation to pay any amounts due on FET's indebtedness or to make any funds available for payment of amounts due on FET's indebtedness. The ability of each of the FET Subsidiaries to pay dividends and make other payments to us is subject to, among other things, the availability of funds, after taking into account capital expenditure requirements, organizational documents, the terms of its indebtedness, applicable state laws, FERC regulations and the FPA and various other agreements.
Our obligations under our indebtedness will be effectively subordinated to all existing and future liabilities of our subsidiaries.
Because we are a holding company, our obligations under our indebtedness will be effectively subordinated to all existing and future liabilities of our subsidiaries. Therefore, our rights and the rights of our creditors, including the rights of the holders of our indebtedness, to participate in the liquidation of assets of any subsidiary will be subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary's creditors. To the extent that we may be a creditor with recognized claims against any of our subsidiaries, our claims would still be effectively subordinated to any security interest in, or mortgages or other liens on, the assets of the subsidiary and would be subordinated to any indebtedness, other liabilities and preferred securities, of the subsidiary, senior to that held by us. As of December 31, 2025, the FET Subsidiaries had approximately $4.25 billion of external indebtedness outstanding, consisting of
senior notes and obligations under the Credit Facilities, of which $2.025 billion, $1.625 billion and $600 million represents outstanding indebtedness of ATSI, MAIT and TrAIL, respectively. Our subsidiaries have no preferred securities outstanding.
Risks Associated with Reputational Damage and HB 6 Related Litigation and Investigations
Damage to our and/or FirstEnergy's reputation may arise from numerous sources making it and its subsidiaries vulnerable to negative customer perception, adverse regulatory outcomes, or other consequences, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Our reputation is important towards maintaining new and ongoing positive relationships with customers, regulators, investors and other stakeholders. Damage to FirstEnergy's reputation, including the reputation of any of its subsidiaries, including FET, could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Such damage may arise from numerous sources further discussed below. Any damage to our reputation, either generally or as a result of the foregoing, may lead to negative customer perception, which may make it difficult for us to compete successfully for new opportunities, or could adversely impact our ability to launch new sophisticated technology-driven solutions to meet our customer expectations. A damaged reputation could further result in FERC, PUCO and other regulatory and legislative authorities being less likely to view us in a favorable light and could negatively impact the rates we charge customers or otherwise cause us to be susceptible to unfavorable legislative and regulatory outcomes, as well as increased regulatory oversight and more stringent legislative or regulatory requirements.
HB 6 related investigation and litigation could have a material adverse effect on FirstEnergy's reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or cash flows and such adverse effects could extend to us.
On July 21, 2020, a complaint and supporting affidavit containing federal criminal allegations were unsealed against the now former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and other individuals and entities allegedly affiliated with Mr. Householder. In March 2023, a jury found Mr. Householder and his co-defendant, Matthew Borges, guilty and in June 2023, the two were sentenced to prison for 20 and five years, respectively. Messrs. Householder and Borges have appealed their sentences. Also, on July 21, 2020, and in connection with the USAO's investigation, FirstEnergy received subpoenas for records from the USAO. FirstEnergy was not aware of the criminal allegations, affidavit or subpoenas before July 21, 2020. On July 21, 2021, FE entered into a three-year DPA with the USAO that, subject to court proceedings, resolves this matter. Among other things under the DPA, FirstEnergy paid a $230 million monetary penalty in 2021 and agreed to the filing of a criminal information charging FirstEnergy with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
As of July 22, 2024, FirstEnergy successfully completed the obligations required within the three-year term of the DPA. Under the DPA, and until the conclusion of any related investigation, criminal prosecution and civil proceeding brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office, FirstEnergy has an obligation to continue (i) publishing quarterly a list of all payments to 501(c)(4) entities and all payments to entities known by FirstEnergy operating for the benefit of a public official, either directly or indirectly; (ii) not making any statements that contradict the DPA; (iii) notifying the U.S. Attorney's Office of any changes in FirstEnergy's corporate form; and (iv) cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office. In accordance with the DPA, these obligations will continue until the completion of any related investigation, criminal prosecution, and civil proceeding brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office related to the conduct set forth in the DPA's statement of facts, including the January 17, 2025 indictment against two former FirstEnergy senior officers. Within 30 days of those matters concluding, and FirstEnergy's successful completion of its remaining obligations, the U.S. Attorney's Office will dismiss the criminal information. On February 26, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office filed a status report confirming these commitments. If FirstEnergy is found to have breached the terms of the DPA, the U.S. Attorney's Office may elect to prosecute, or bring a civil action against, FirstEnergy for conduct alleged in the DPA or known to the government, which could result in fines or penalties and could have a material adverse impact on FirstEnergy's reputation or relationships with regulatory and legislative authorities, customers and other stakeholders, which may, in turn, have an adverse material impact on us.
Following the announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the investigation surrounding HB 6 in July 2020, certain of FirstEnergy's stockholders and customers filed several lawsuits against FirstEnergy and certain current and former directors, officers and other employees, including the federal securities class action litigation In re: FirstEnergy Corp. Securities Litigation (S.D. Ohio). FirstEnergy believes that it is probable that FirstEnergy will incur a loss in connection with the resolution of In re: FirstEnergy Corp. Securities Litigation. The outcome, duration, scope, result or related costs of the in securities class action litigation In re: FirstEnergy Corp. Securities Litigation are inherently uncertain. However, if it is resolved against FirstEnergy, substantial monetary damages could result and its reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity or cash flows may be materially adversely affected, which may, in turn, have an adverse material impact on us.