Electric utility company FirstEnergy said today it is buying rival Allegheny Energy for about $4.7 billion in stock in a deal that will create one of the nation's largest power companies with customers from Ohio to New York.

This will mean FirstEnergy will serve most of Butler County.

That company is the parent company of Penn Power, which already serves the Cranberry Township area. Allegheny Energy already covers a wide area of the county.

The combined company will have about $16 billion in annual revenue and $1.4 billion in profit and serve more than 6 million customers.

FirstEnergy has 4.5 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Penn Power has 1.6 million customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.

Anthony J. Alexander, president and CEO of FirstEnergy, will remain the top executive of the combined company, which will be based at FirstEnergy's headquarters in Akron, Ohio.

The deal is expected to close within 14 months.