SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
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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): October 15, 1999
Commission Registrant, State of Incorporation, I.R.S. Employer
File Number Address and Telephone Number Identification No.
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1-6047 GPU, Inc. 13-5516989
(a Pennsylvania corporation)
300 Madison Avenue
Morristown, New Jersey 07962-1911
Telephone (973) 455-8200
1-3141 Jersey Central Power & Light Company 21-0485010
(a New Jersey corporation)
2800 Pottsville Pike
Reading, Pennsylvania 19640-0001
Telephone (610) 929-3601
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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS.
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As previously reported, on September 10, 1999 Jersey Central Power & Light
Company ("JCP&L") signed a Letter of Intent with AmerGen Energy Company L.L.C.
("AmerGen"), a joint venture of PECO Energy Company and British Energy plc, to
sell JCP&L's Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station ("Oyster Creek")to AmerGen.
On October 15, 1999, JCP&L and AmerGen entered into definitive agreements
providing for the sale of Oyster Creek to AmerGen. As previously reported,
AmerGen will pay JCP&L $10 million for Oyster Creek and will repay JCP&L in nine
annual installments for the costs (up to approximately $88 million) of the
plant's next refueling outage scheduled to begin in September 2000. JCP&L will
transfer to AmerGen $430 million in decommissioning trust funds and AmerGen will
assume all responsibility for decommissioning Oyster Creek. AmerGen will also
sell to JCP&L all of Oyster Creek's capacity and energy through March 31, 2003.
The agreements provide for certain adjustments to the price terms and
decommissioning trust fund amount if the transaction is not consummated on March
31, 2000. The transaction is subject to the receipt of various federal and state
regulatory approvals and favorable rulings by the Internal Revenue Service.
A copy of GPU's related news release is annexed as an exhibit.
<PAGE>
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION
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AND EXHIBITS.
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(c) Exhibit
1. GPU News Release, dated October 15, 1999.
<PAGE>
SIGNATURE
PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, THE
REGISTRANTS HAVE DULY CAUSED THIS REPORT TO BE SIGNED ON THEIR BEHALF BY THE
UNDERSIGNED THEREUNTO DULY AUTHORIZED.
GPU, INC.
JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
By: /s/ T. G. Howson
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T. G. Howson, Vice President
and Treasurer
Date: October 19, 1999
EXHIBIT TO BE FILED BY EDGAR
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(c) 1 GPU News Release, dated October 15, 1999.
Exhibit (c) 1
GPU News Release
October 15, 1999
GPU, Inc., AmerGen Reach Definitive Agreement on Sale of
Oyster Creek Facility
MORRISTOWN, N.J. - October 15, 1999 - GPU, Inc. and AmerGen Energy Company
today announced that they have signed a definitive asset purchase agreement for
the sale of GPU's Oyster Creek nuclear generating facility in Lacey Township,
N.J. to AmerGen for $10 million.
The asset purchase agreement replaces the agreement in principle for the
sale of the Oyster Creek plant approved on September 13. AmerGen is a joint
venture of PECO Energy Company and British Energy Company founded in 1997 to
purchase and operate nuclear generation plants in the United States.
The transaction is subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the New Jersey Board of
Public Utilities, and receipt of favorable Internal Revenue Service rulings.
Closing of the transaction is anticipated in the Spring of 2000.
GPU, Inc. (NYSE:GPU), headquartered in Morristown, N.J. is a registered
public utility holding company. GPU's three domestic operating utility
subsidiaries--Jersey Central Power & Light Company, Metropolitan Edison Company
and Pennsylvania Electric Company--do business under the trade name of GPU
Energy and serve approximately two million customers in a service area
encompassing about half the land areas of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. GPU
International Group develops, owns and operates transmission and distribution
facilities overseas and generating plants both in the United States and abroad.
In the UK, GPU owns Midlands Electricity, which distributes electric power to
2.2 million customers in an area that includes Birmingham, England. GPU's other
subsidiaries include: GPU Advanced Resources Inc., GPU Generation Inc., GPU
Nuclear Inc., GPU Service Inc. and GPU Telcom Services Inc. (http://www.gpu.com)
PECO Energy is an electric and gas utility serving 1.5 million electric
customers in the five-county Philadelphia area and 400,000 natural gas customers
in four suburban counties. It is one of the nation's largest nuclear utilities,
producing more than 33 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1998 at its
Limerick and Peach Bottom generating stations. PECO Energy has set new nuclear
performance standards in safety, availability and capacity factors, efficient
refueling outages, and low operating and maintenance costs.
PECO Energy also owns and operates coal, natural gas, oil, landfill gas
and hydro power plants. PECO Energy's Power Team operates a 24-hour energy
trading floor with transactions in 47 states and Canada.
<PAGE>
British Energy provides more than 20 percent of Britain's electricity and
is the U.K.'s largest generator. It owns and operates 15 nuclear power reactors
in the United Kingdom, with 9,600 megawatts of generation, including seven
advanced gas-cooled nuclear stations and one pressurized water reactor station.
In July 1996, British Energy was successfully privatized through a public
offering of stock. The company has distinguished itself on nuclear operations
through its outstanding safety record and by reducing costs and increasing
output and profit following privatization. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland,
it has 5,100 employees. British Energy recently announced it will purchase its
first regional electric supply company, Swalec, in Wales, UK.
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Contacts:
GPU - Ned Raynolds, (973) 455-8294
PECO Energy - Bill Jones, (215) 841-4129
British Energy - Doug McRoberts, (011) 131-44-527-2020
