SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K/A No. 1
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 17, 1995
PENNSYLVANIA ELECTRIC COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
Pennsylvania 1-3522 25-0718085
(State or other (Commission (IRS employer
jurisdiction of file number) identification no.)
incorporation)
2800 Pottsville Pike, Reading, Muhlenberg Township, Berks County,
PA 19640-0001
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (610) 929-
3601 <PAGE>
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
Item 5 of the Form 8-K dated October 17, 1995 ("Form 8-
K") is amended in its entirety to read as follows:
As previously reported, as a result of the 1979
accident at Unit No.2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating
Station (TMI-2) and its aftermath, individual claims for alleged
personal injury (including claims for punitive damages), which
are material in amount, have been asserted against General Public
Utilities Corporation ("Corporation") and Jersey Central Power &
Light Company, Metropolitan Edison Company and Pennsylvania
Electric Company ("Subsidiaries"). Approximately 2,100 of such
claims are pending in the United States District Court for the
Middle District of Pennsylvania. At the time of the accident, as
provided for in the Price-Anderson Act (which, among other
things, provides liability limitations for accidents involving
commercial nuclear reactors), the Subsidiaries had (i) primary
financial protection in the form of insurance policies with
groups of insurance companies providing an aggregate of $140
million of primary coverage, (ii) secondary financial protection
in the form of private liability insurance under an industry
retrospective rating plan providing for up to an aggregate of
$335 million in premium charges under such plan and (iii) an
indemnity agreement with the NRC for up to an aggregate of $85
million, bringing the total primary, secondary and tertiary
financial protection up to an aggregate of $560 million. Under
the secondary level, the Subsidiaries are subject to a
retrospective premium charge on a pro rata basis, which in the
aggregate will not exceed $15 million, as their portion of this
1<PAGE>
level of financial protection. In March 1994, the defendants in
the TMI-2 litigation and the insurers agreed that the insurers
would withdraw their reservation of rights with respect to any
award of punitive damages.
On October 17, 1995, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit ruled that the federal Price-Anderson Act provides
coverage under its primary and secondary levels for punitive as
well as compensatory damages, but that punitive damages could not
be recovered against the Federal Government which, as described
above, provides the third level of financial protection. In so
doing, the Court referred to the "finite fund" to which
plaintiffs must resort to get compensatory as well as punitive
damages.
The Court of Appeals, in a related action, also found that
the standard of care owed by the defendants to a plaintiff was
determined by the specific level of radiation which was released
into the environment, as measured at the site boundary, rather
than as measured (as the GPU defendants proposed) at the specific
site where the plaintiff was located at the time of the accident.
The Court also held, however, that each plaintiff still must
demonstrate exposure to radiation released during the TMI
accident and that such exposure had resulted in their injuries.
The GPU defendants believe that any liability to which they
might be subject by reason of the TMI-2 accident and these Third
Circuit decisions will not exceed their financial protection
under the Price-Anderson Act. A trial of ten allegedly
representative cases is scheduled to begin in June 1996.
2<PAGE>
A copy of a related news release is annexed as an
exhibit to the Form 8-K.
3<PAGE>
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.
PENNSYLVANIA ELECTRIC COMPANY
By:
T. G. Howson, Vice President
and Treasurer
Date: October 27, 1995<PAGE>
EXHIBIT TO BE FILED BY EDGAR
Exhibit:
1. GPU News Release, dated October 17, 1995<PAGE>
EXHIBIT 1
(GPU NEWS RELEASE LETTERHEAD)
Gordon Tomb
(717) 948-8197 October 17, 1995
Carol Clawson 95-033
(201) 316-7706
IMMEDIATELY
APPEALS COURT RULES THAT TMI-2 PLAINTIFFS MAY SEEK PUNITIVE
DAMAGES
PARSIPPANY, N.J., October 17, 1995 -- General Public
Utilities Corporation (NYSE:GPU) announced today that the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that plaintiffs
who claim they were injured as a result of the 1979 accident at
Unit No. 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
may seek punitive damages. In so doing, the Court referred to
the "finite fund" to which plaintiffs must resort to get
compensatory as well as punitive damages. Pursuant to the
Federal Price-Anderson Act, primary financial protection is
provided in the form of insurance policies with a group of
insurance companies, and secondary financial protection in the
form of private liability insurance under an industry
retrospective rating plan. The Court said that a third layer
provided by the Federal government could not be used to pay
punitive damage awards.
The GPU defendants believe that any liability to which they
might be subject by reason of the TMI-2 accident and the Third
Circuit decisions will not exceed the sum of their insurance and
secondary protection under the Price-Anderson Act.<PAGE>
In a related action, the Court of Appeals also found that
the standard of care owed by the defendants to the plaintiffs was
determined by the specific level of radiation permitted by
Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations to be released into the
environment, as measured at the site boundary. The plaintiffs
had argued that an "as low as reasonably achievable" standard was
proper. Because those levels were exceeded, plaintiffs'
remaining burden is to show that the injuries they claim to have
suffered were caused by those emissions.
The trial of the first 10 of the 2,100 pending claims has
been scheduled for 1996. TMI-2 is owned by GPU's three public
utility subsidiaries.
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