Business Digest

FirstEnergy files new rate proposal

AKRON

FirstEnergy Corp. has filed a new rate proposal that a state utility watchdog says could raise rates by hundreds of millions of dollars in coming years.

The plan submitted to Ohio regulators by the Akron-based utility Tuesday would allow the company to adjust rates each quarter to pay for upgrades to wires, substations and other equipment. Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander says that could prove expensive for FirstEnergy customers. FirstEnergy maintains it will absorb any costs related to the project and not put a burden on consumers.

Smucker will close four plants, cut jobs

ORRVILLE, Ohio

The J.M. Smucker Co. is closing four plants and cutting 700 jobs, about 15 percent of its work force, the food maker said Wednesday.

The company, which makes Folgers Coffee, Smucker’s jams and other products, said it is closing its fruit-spread plants in Memphis, Tenn., and Ste. Marie, Quebec, and moving the bulk of its production to Orrville, Ohio, where the company is headquartered. Smucker also is closing its coffee plants in Sherman, Texas, and Kansas City, Mo., to consolidate all its coffee production into its plant in New Orleans.

Chrysler executive says sales are up

DETROIT

A top executive at Chrysler Group LLC said Wednesday that retail sales to individual buyers at the automaker are up 51 percent this month compared with February.

But Fred Diaz, CEO of the company’s Ram truck brand, said overall sales, including fleet, are trending about 10 percent below March of 2009, when Chrysler spent thousands of dollars per vehicle on rebates and other incentives as it tried to win federal aid and forestall a bankruptcy filing.

Bank of America to give mortgage relief

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Bank of America Corp. is giving some of its most troubled mortgage borrowers relief from the threat of foreclosure. The bank said Wednesday it will forgive up to 30 percent of some customers’ total mortgage balance. The homeowners must be at least 60 days delinquent on their loans and owe more than 120 percent of their homes’ value.

The plan is the newest provision of an agreement the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank reached 18 months ago with state attorneys general to settle charges over high-risk loans made by Countrywide Financial Corp.

The loans were made before Bank of America acquired the mortgage lender in mid-2008.

Associated Press