April 22, 2022

In support of our continued commitment to the environment and the communities we serve, FirstEnergy Environmental has set a goal to plant 20,000 trees throughout our service territory in 2022.

“Trees provide an array of important benefits, including carbon absorption, soaking up storm water that can cause erosion and preserving stream and riverbanks,” said George Farah, vice president, Utility Services. “We’re proud to support our local parks, communities and customers through programs that brighten the landscape and support a healthy environment.”

About 10,000 of the trees will be planted over the next two weeks during events surrounding Earth Day and Arbor Day. The plan follows a successful 2021 in which the company far exceeded its goal of planting 10,000 trees before year’s end.

With a focus on enhancing community landscapes through the greenery, shade and other benefits offered by trees, FirstEnergy established this initiative in 2020 with an initial goal of planting 1,000 trees across its service territory.

Success in the program’s first year led to a 10-fold increase in the planting goal for 2021 – a target that was significantly exceeded when 17,000 trees were planted during the year.

The tree-planting effort is one of FirstEnergy’s many initiatives organized and implemented by FirstEnergy’s Green Teams, groups of employee volunteers dedicated to supporting environmental initiatives across the company’s five-state footprint.

Company volunteers also have devoted time and resources to a wide variety of programs, including electronics recycling events, beach cleanups and even removal of invasive plant species from local parks. Rather than disposing of the invasive plant species in a traditional manner, they were used to feed rhinos at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Our Green Teams plan to continue to partner with state park systems, watershed and recycling groups, garden clubs, schools and other environmentally focused organizations in 2022 to support the company’s commitment to building a brighter and more sustainable future.

For more information about FirstEnergy’s environmental and corporate responsibility efforts, visit www.fecorporateresponsibility.com and the Green Teams’ SharePoint site.