FE · 10-Q · 2026Q1 · Full report

Credit Ratings and Debt Capacity

FIRSTENERGY CORP · 2026-04-28 · Importance 59 · Surprise 60

FE and its subsidiaries carry investment-grade ratings from S&P, Moody’s and Fitch across multiple entities; on April 27, 2026 the filing lists a range including FE at S&P BBB+, Moody's Baa3 and Fitch BBB. On March 30, 2026 Moody’s revised FE’s outlook to positive from stable while affirming its Baa3 issuer and senior unsecured ratings. FE discloses that approximately $2.1 billion of senior unsecured notes have interest rates that could increase on a one-notch downgrade, generally by 25 bps per one-notch down to specified rating triggers, with an aggregate cap of 2% from issuance. The company quantifies covenant headroom: as of March 31, 2026 FE could incur approximately $0.9 billion of incremental interest expense or a $2.3 billion reduction to the consolidated interest coverage numerator and remain within its credit facility covenant limits, and JCP&L could incur approximately $6.3 billion of additional debt (or a $3.4 billion reduction to equity) and remain within its debt-to-capital covenant limits.

Key facts

On March 30, 2026, Moody’s revised FE’s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed FE’s ratings including its Baa3 Issuer and senior unsecured ratings.
As of March 31, 2026, FirstEnergy could incur approximately $0.9 billion of incremental interest expense (or a $2.3 billion reduction to the consolidated interest coverage earnings numerator) and remain within the financial covenant limits of FE's credit facility.
As of March 31, 2026, JCP&L could incur approximately $6.3 billion of additional debt and remain within the limitations of the debt to capital covenant, or incur an approximate $3.4 billion reduction to equity as defined under the covenant and remain within limits.
On March 30, 2026, Moody’s revised FE’s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed FE’s Baa3 issuer and senior unsecured ratings.
As of April 27, 2026, FirstEnergy (FE) had an S&P corporate credit rating of BBB+, a Moody’s issuer rating of Baa3 and a Fitch issuer rating of BBB.
As of April 27, 2026, CEI had an S&P corporate credit rating of BBB+, a Moody’s issuer rating of Baa3 and a Fitch issuer rating of BBB+.
As of April 27, 2026, OE had an S&P corporate credit rating of A-, a Moody’s issuer rating of A3 and a Fitch issuer rating of BBB+.

Impact estimates

metric	direction	stage	expected	basis
net_income	positive	contingent	—	On March 30, 2026, Moody’s revised FE’s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed FE’s ratings including its Baa3 Issuer and senior…
net_income	positive	realized	—	On March 30, 2026, Moody’s revised FE’s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed FE’s Baa3 issuer and senior unsecured ratings.