SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
___________________
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (date of
earliest event reported): April 2, 1996
GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITIES CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
Pennsylvania 1-6047 13-5516589
(State or other (Commission (IRS employer
jurisdiction of file number) identification no.)
incorporation)
100 Interpace Parkway, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (201) 263-6500
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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
On April 2, 1996, Jersey Central Power & Light Company
("JCP&L"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Corporation, entered
into an agreement (the "Agreement") with Freehold Cogeneration
Associates, L.P. ("Freehold") under which JCP&L has agreed to buy
out the long-term Power Purchase Agreement between JCP&L and
Freehold (the "PPA") for the proposed Freehold Cogeneration
Project ("Project"). Under the Agreement, JCP&L has agreed to
pay Freehold a total of $125 million; JCP&L paid Freehold $65
million upon signing the Agreement and the balance is payable
over three years. JCP&L has also agreed to pay certain other
costs to project Contracting parties, in amounts not yet
determined but which may be material, associated with termination
of the PPA.
Freehold has been developing the proposed 100 MW gas-
fired cogeneration project at a site in Freehold, New Jersey.
As has been previously reported, in a 1989 order, the
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ("NJBPU") directed JCP&L to
enter into the PPA, as required by the Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978 ("PURPA"). JCP&L and Freehold entered into
the PPA in 1992. For the past two years, the PPA has been the
subject of extensive state and federal court and administrative
litigation some of which is still pending. JCP&L had, however,
been unsuccessful in its attempts to have the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission or the Federal courts invalidate the PPA or
permit the NJBPU to reexamine its 1992 approval of the PPA under
PURPA. JCP&L estimates that the amounts which would have been
payable by JCP&L's customers over the PPA's 20 year term would
have exceeded by more than $1 billion the cost of energy from
alternative sources.
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JCP&L has filed a petition with the NJBPU requesting
that JCP&L be permitted to recover the costs incurred in buying
out the PPA over an approximate seven year period through JCP&L's
levelized energy adjustment clause.
A copy of JCP&L's related news release is annexed as an
exhibit.
ITEM 6. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION
AND EXHIBITS
(c) Exhibits
1. JCP&L News Release, dated April 2, 1996.
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SIGNATURE
PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
ACT OF 1934, THE REGISTRANT HAS DULY CAUSED THIS REPORT TO BE
SIGNED ON ITS BEHALF BY THE UNDERSIGNED THEREUNTO DULY
AUTHORIZED.
JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
By:______________________________
T. G. Howson, Vice President
and Treasurer
Date: April 5, 1996<PAGE>
EXHIBIT TO BE FILED BY EDGAR
Exhibits
1. JCP&L News Release, dated April 2, 1996.<PAGE>
Exhibit 1
(JCP&L NEWS RELEASE LETTERHEAD)
Further Information: Release Date:
Donna Rovins 201-455-8408 04/02/96
Ron Morano 201-644-4297
JCP&L, FREEHOLD COGENERATION ASSOCIATES CANCEL POWER CONTRACT
MORRISTOWN, NJ --- Jersey Central Power & Light Company
(JCP&L) announced today that it had reached an agreement with
developers of the proposed Freehold Cogeneration Project to
cancel the project's power purchase contract with JCP&L. The
power purchase agreement had been the subject of ongoing
regulatory and legal proceedings for more than two years.
The power project was being developed in Freehold Township,
NJ by Freehold Cogeneration Associates L.P. (FCA), a partnership
affiliated with Constellation Power, Inc. and Advanced Power
Systems, Inc. FCA had entered into the power purchase agreement
in 1992 to sell JCP&L 100 megawatts from the proposed 110
megawatt gas-fired project in Monmouth County.
Under its agreement with FCA, JCP&L will buy out and
terminate the power purchase agreement for $125 million, payable
over three years, and has agreed to pay certain other costs.
"Although litigation between the parties has been
continuing, the project was likely to be built and deliver the
power to JCP&L," said Michael P. Morrell, JCP&L vice president -
regulatory and public affairs. "However, because we believe the
Freehold contract would require our customers to pay over $1
billion in excess future costs over other available sources, the
buyout agreement is clearly in the best interest of our
customers."
The agreement provides that JCP&L and FCA will terminate all
pending litigation and administrative proceedings between them
relating to the contract.
The GPU companies have been committed to renegotiating or
buying out non-utility generating contracts which are more costly
than power available from other sources.
JCP&L is an operating utility subsidiary of General Public
Utilities Corporation (GPU), a registered utility holding company
headquartered in Parsippany, NJ. GPU's three operating utility
subsidiaries - JCP&L, Metropolitan Edison and Pennsylvania
Electric - provide electric service to more than 1.9 million
customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.<PAGE>
