By Alwyn Scott and Rachit Vats

(Reuters) - General Electric Co slashed its dividend on Tuesday, said it faces a deepening federal accounting probe and vowed to restructure its power unit, as new Chief Executive Larry Culp took his first steps to revive the struggling conglomerate.

GE said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice had expanded investigations to include the $22-billion writedown of goodwill from the power division that the company reported on Tuesday. GE shares slid on the New York Stock Exchange, touching their lowest in more than nine years.

The company posted a staggering loss of $22.8 billion in the third quarter, among the largest in U.S. corporate history. The 126-year-old company, once the most valuable U.S. corporation, has announced more than $40 billion in writedowns and charges in less than a year.

Culp, who took over on Oct. 1, said GE will significantly miss its full-year cash flow target of about $6 billion. He said he could not estimate full-year results until he gets more detail about the ailing power unit, which lost $631 million in the third quarter.

GE all but eliminated its quarterly dividend, cutting it to a penny from 12 cents a share to conserve about $4 billion in cash and strengthen the balance sheet. Analysts viewed that positively, relieved that Culp said there were no plans to raise equity capital as some had feared.

"My priorities in my first 100 days are positioning our businesses to win, starting with Power, and accelerating deleveraging," Culp said in the results statement.

GE shares closed down 8.8 percent at $10.18.

NEW POWER STRUCTURE

In June, former CEO John Flannery, who was on the job for just 14 months, said GE would pare its portfolio to jet engines, power plants and renewable energy by disposing of its healthcare and Baker Hughes units, along with other restructuring already in the works.

On Tuesday, Culp said GE will put its gas turbine equipment and services businesses in a new unit. Analysts said this probably foreshadows the sale of other assets such as coal and nuclear power plants and power grids.

GE added much of that in 2015 with a $10-billion acquisition of power assets from Alstom SA (ALSO.PA), saying it could boost margins and profits. But profits fell as demand for fossil fuel power plants slowed in response to cheaper solar and wind systems. Power services faced stiff competition, and declining use of large power plants has reduced repair revenue.

GE wrote down $22 billion in goodwill in the latest quarter because promised profits from power are now unlikely.