Exhibit (c) 1
GPU News Release
October 29, 2001

                  NOTICE TO GPU SHAREHOLDERS OF EXCHANGE RATIO
                              AND ELECTION DEADLINE

                         SEC Approves FirstEnergy Merger

Morristown,  NJ - GPU, Inc. (NYSE: GPU) announced today that the U.S. Securities
and Exchange  Commission  (SEC) has  approved the merger of GPU and  FirstEnergy
Corp.  (NYSE:  FE) under the Public Utility  Holding  Company Act. This approval
completes the regulatory approval process for the merger. The effective date for
the merger has been set for November 7.


Under the terms of the Merger Agreement,  GPU shareholders may elect to receive,
for each  share of GPU  common  stock  that they own,  either  $36.50 in cash or
shares of FirstEnergy  common stock. The number of FirstEnergy shares that a GPU
shareholder  will receive in exchange  for a GPU share  depends upon the average
closing price of FirstEnergy  common stock over a pre-determined  20-day trading
period,  but is limited to 1.2318  shares if that  average  price is $29.6313 or
higher.  With the November 7, 2001,  merger  effective  date, the 20-day trading
period ended on October 29, 2001,  and resulted in an average  closing  price of
$35.67. Consequently,  GPU shareholders electing FirstEnergy shares will receive
1.2318  shares of  FirstEnergy  common  stock for each share of GPU common stock
that they own. The elections by GPU shareholders are subject to proration if the
total elections would result in more than one-half of the GPU common stock being
exchanged for either cash or FirstEnergy  shares. As a result,  GPU shareholders
may  receive  a  combination  of cash or  shares  of  FirstEnergy  common  stock
different from their election.

The forms of election  of GPU  shareholders  must be  received  by the  Exchange
Agent, Mellon Investor Services, by the election deadline,  which is 5 p.m., New
York City time, on November 6, 2001. If shareholders  fail to submit their forms
of election by the election deadline, they lose their right to make an election,
and the  type of  merger  consideration  they  will  receive  -  either  cash or
FirstEnergy  shares or both - will be  determined  under the  provisions  of the
Merger Agreement.  Any questions regarding the merger exchange process should be
directed to the Exchange Agent, Mellon Investor Services, at 1-800-279-1228.

GPU,  Inc.,  headquartered  in  Morristown,  NJ, is a registered  public utility
holding  company  providing  utility and  utility-related  services to customers
throughout  the world.  GPU serves 4.6 million  customers  directly  through its
electric companies -- GPU Energy in the US, GPU Power UK in England, and Emdersa
in Argentina.  It serves an additional 1.4 million customers  indirectly through
GPU  GasNet,  its  gas  transmission  subsidiary  in  Australia.  The  company's
independent  power  project  business  units own  interests in and operate seven
projects in five countries.  GPU's 2000 revenues were $5.2 billion and its total
assets were more than $19 billion.  GPU's other  subsidiaries  include MYR Group
Inc., GPU Advanced  Resources,  Inc., GPU Nuclear,  Inc., GPU Service,  Inc. GPU
Telcom Services, Inc. and GPU Diversified Holdings LLC. (http://www.gpu.com)

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Contacts:

Media:                              Investors:
Ned Raynolds                        Joanne Barbieri
973-401-8294                        973-401-8720