PPL Corporation

History

PPL 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.

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.

In May 2002, PPL announced that Robert G. Byram, PPL's chief nuclear officer since 1997, was retiring from the company. Bryce L. Shriver, who had served as vice president-Nuclear Site Operations at PPL's Susquehanna plant since 2000, became senior vice president and chief nuclear officer.

PPL's 2008 revenue was $8.2 billion, with a net profit of $930 million, making it number 314 on the 2009 Fortune 500 list. After acquiring Central Networks and LG&E, PPL's 2011 profit rose to $1.495 billion, on $12.7 billion in revenue, ranking it number 212 on Fortune's 2012 list.

In March 2011, PPL acquired from E.ON the British distribution company Central Networks for £3.5 billion.

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

On July 1, 2016, PPL Solutions, LLC was sold to Hansen Technologies Limited. PPL Solutions provides billing, business process outsourcing, call center, and information technology services to regulated utilities in the United States.

Subsidiaries

Controversy in foreign subsidiary

After the takeover in 2000 of Wales' largest company, Hyder, to form half of Western Power Distribution (a UK-based energy distribution company and subsidiary of PPL), a local beauty spot and part Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff, called Llanishen Reservoir, was acquired as an asset. Western Power and PPL's plans to redevelop the surface area of the reservoir to include 300 new houses with a smaller 'wildlife area' are highly controversial, and the issue has been taken by various British MPs to the Welsh Assembly and the UK parliament.

Customer Satisfaction

PPL Electric Utilities, which serves 1.4 million customers in 29 counties of Pennsylvania in the United States, has received 15 J.D. Power and Associates awards for customer satisfaction — more than any other utility in the United States.

In June, 2013, J.D. Power announced that PPL EnergyPlus ranked highest in the state for residential customer satisfaction in J.D. Power's first study of competitive electricity suppliers in Pennsylvania.

PPL Building

The PPL Building is the tallest building in Allentown. The building has 23 stories and is 322 feet (98 m) tall. It is the second tallest building in the Lehigh Valley after Bethlehem's Martin Tower. It is located at the intersection of Hamilton and Ninth Streets in the downtown area of the city.

The Plaza at PPL Center

In June 2003, PPL Corporation dedicated The Plaza at PPL Center, a new office building for continued growth in the company's non-regulated energy businesses.

The Plaza at PPL Center, PPL's new office building in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania, boasts a long list of environmental features, including a vegetative roof and innovative energy and water-saving devices.

It has been awarded the Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program for making use of sustainable development principles.

Marketing

In February 2010, the 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. After PPL spun off its generation business into the separate Talen Energy, the stadium naming rights were assumed by the spinoff company, and the venue is now known as Talen Energy Stadium.

PPL also 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.