PPL Corporation

PPL Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

PPL Corporation
TypePublic
IndustryElectric utilities
FoundedJune 4, 1920 (June 4, 1920)
Headquarters
Allentown, Pennsylvania
,
U.S.
Key people
Vincent Sorgi, President and Chief Executive Officer
RevenueUS$7.9 billion (2022)
1,374,000,000 United States dollar (2022) Edit this on Wikidata
US$756 million (2022)
Number of employees
more than 6,500 (2022)
Websitepplweb.com

History

Pennsylvania Power & Light was founded in 1920 out of a merger of eight smaller Pennsylvania utilities. It gradually extended its service territory to a crescent-shaped region of central and northeastern Pennsylvania stretching from Lancaster through the Lehigh Valley into Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. In 1995, it reorganized as a holding company, PP&L Resources, which changed its name to its current name, PPL Corporation, in 2000.

The company limited its activities to Pennsylvania until deregulation of electrical utilities in the 1990s encouraged PPL to purchase assets in other states. The largest of these transactions was PPL's 1998 purchase of 13 plants from Montana Power (leaving NorthWestern Energy – the buyer of the former Montana Power transmission and distribution systems – vulnerable to high "spot" prices on the energy market). This added over 2,500 MW of capacity and was the largest expansion in PPL's history. In 2014, those hydroelectric facilities were sold to NorthWestern.[1]

In 2010, PPL completed the acquisition of two regulated utilities in Kentucky: Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities.

In 2011, PPL completed the acquisition of two regulated regional electricity distribution companies in the United Kingdom. Together, with two previously acquired regional electricity distribution companies, they operate under the name Western Power Distribution (WPD).

On June 6, 2014, PPL announced it would divest its electrical generation facilities to a newly formed company, Talen Energy.[2] On June 1, 2015, the Talen spinoff was completed, allowing PPL to concentrate on the transmission and distribution aspects of the electric utility business.[3]

In 2020, PPL initiated a formal process to sell WPD in order to position PPL as a purely U.S.-focused energy company and create additional shareowner value. This resulted in a March 18, 2021, announcement of agreements to sell WPD to National Grid plc for £7.8 billion and acquire National Grid's Rhode Island electric and gas utility, the Narragansett Electric Company, for $3.8 billion.[4] The sale of WPD was completed on June 14, 2021.

The sale of the Narragansett Electric Company was completed on May 25, 2022, and Narragansett Electric was renamed Rhode Island Energy.[5]

Headquarters
The PPL Building in Allentown, Pennsylvania, 2007.

PPL Building
Main article: PPL Building

The PPL Building is now the tallest building in not just Allentown, but in the greater Lehigh Valley, after the demolition of the Martin Tower on May 19, 2019. The building has 23 stories and is 322 feet (98 m) tall. It is located at the intersection of Hamilton and Ninth Streets in the downtown area of the city.

Investments

In a speech before the Edison Electric Institute Financial Conference in November 2019, William Spence, PPL's former chairman and chief executive officer, said that the company is focusing on building more advanced cleaner energy technologies and is also increasing its effort on a strategy known as "Energy Forward." The company has invested billions to improve infrastructure and technology in order to create a smarter, more reliable and resilient energy grid. In the third quarter of 2019, PPL completed a $470 million investment in replacing meters with "advanced" meters in Pennsylvania.[6]

Marketing

In February 2010, PPL Corporation purchased the naming rights to the venue originally known as PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania (which is outside of PPL's service territory), the home stadium of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union. As part of the $25 million, 11-year deal, PPL EnergyPlus provides sustainable energy to PPL Park derived from other sources in Pennsylvania.[7] After PPL spun off its non-regulated generation business into the separate Talen Energy, the stadium naming rights were assumed by the spinoff company and the venue became known as Talen Energy Stadium.[8] In February 2020, the park was named Subaru Park.[9]

PPL owns the naming rights to the PPL Center in Allentown, which hosts the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League starting with the 2014 season. PPL paid an undisclosed sum over ten years.[10]

Customer satisfaction

PPL's companies regularly rank high in customer satisfaction studies. PPL Electric Utilities, which serves 1.4 million customers in 29 counties in Pennsylvania, has received 30 J.D. Power and Associates awards for customer satisfaction.

Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities, which serve 1.3 million customers in almost 100 counties across Kentucky and Virginia, have won 28 J.D. Power awards for customer satisfaction.

Subsidiaries
  • PPL Electric Utilities Corporation (commonly known as PPL Electric Utilities and formerly known as Pennsylvania Power & Light Company or Pennsylvania Power & Light)
  • LG&E and KU Energy
  • Rhode Island Energy (former territory of Narragansett Electric Company formed in 2022 following purchase from National Grid)
  • PPL Global

Exterior shots of the PPL Building were used in the 1954 motion picture Executive Suite.[11]

References
  1. "NorthWestern Energy closes deal to purchase PPL Montana hydroelectric facilities".
  2. Poole, Claire (June 10, 2014). "PPL, Riverstone create Talen Energy". The Street. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  3. Kraus, Scott (June 1, 2015). "Talen Energy launches Monday, sells stock Tuesday". The Morning Call. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  4. Fitzpatrick, Edward (18 March 2021). "Narragansett Electric Company sold to Pennsylvania company - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  5. An update for our Rhode Island Customers
  6. "PPL CEO says utilities focused on investing in sustainable energy, delivering fair shareholder returns". Daily Energy Insider. 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  7. Jasner, Andy (February 25, 2010). "PPL buys naming rights". Philadelphia Union. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  8. "Talen Energy Assumes Stadium Naming Rights". Philadelphia Union (Press release). Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  9. "Philadelphia Union and Subaru of America Announce Stadium Naming Rights Partnership" (Press release). Philadelphia Union. February 18, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  10. "Allentown hockey arena will be PPL Center". Lehigh Valley Live. Allentown. February 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  11. "M. Night Shyamalan's 'Glass' joins these 21 other films shot in the Lehigh Valley," Lehigh Valley Live, September 24, 2019, retrieved February 15, 2022.
  • PPL Official Web Site
  • Business data for PPL Corporation:
  • Pennsylvania Power & Light Company records (1883-1941) at Hagley Museum and Library
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