| Type | Public (NYSE: PPL) S&P 500 Component |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electric Utility |
| Founded | 1920 |
| Headquarters | Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Key people | James H. Miller (chairman, president and CEO) |
| Revenue | US$7.830 Billion (2009) |
| Net income | US$738 Million (2009) |
| Employees | 13,500 (2010) |
| Website | www.pplweb.com |
PPL, formerly known as PP&L or Pennsylvania Power and Light,[1] is an energy company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. It currently controls about 19,000 megawatts (MW) of electrical generating capacity in the United States, primarily in Pennsylvania and Montana, and delivers electricity to 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania, nearly a million in Kentucky, and 2.6 million in Great Britain. It also provides natural gas delivery service to 321,000 customers in Kentucky.
The majority of PPL's power plants burn coal, oil, or natural gas. PPL also owns peaking plants, which require few operators and have a high profit margin due to their ability to rapidly come online when the price of electricity spikes. PPL's largest plant is the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, a 2,352 MW nuclear power plant, located on the Susquehanna River seven miles (11 km) northeast of Berwick, Pennsylvania.
The company is publicly-traded on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol NYSE: PPL.
PPL is the seventh largest employer in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.[2] The company's headquarters is based in the PPL Building, the tallest building in Allentown.
On November 1, 2010 PPL Corporation purchased E.ON US, the parent company of Kentucky’s two major utilities, Louisville Gas & Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company for $7.625 billion from German utility firm E.ON.[3]
Contents |
PPL was founded in 1920 out of a merger of eight smaller Pennsylvania utilities. It confined its activities to central and northeastern Pennsylvania for several decades 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.
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.[4]
In March 2011, PPL acquired from E.ON the British distribution company Central Networks for £3.5 billion.[5]
After the controversial 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.[6][7] 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.[8][9] Site of Special Scientific Interest
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.
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 building is often uniquely illuminated at night, especially during the Christmas season. During the 1960s, Pennsylvania Power & Light Company supported the local United Fund community fund drive program by using the building's brightly lit windows at night to spell out the abbreviation "U.F." to remind area residents to contribute to the fund drive.
The PPL Building was built from 1926 to 1928. It was built by the PPL corporation and to this day has been the headquarters of the company. The building was designed by architect and skyscraper pioneer Harvey Wiley Corbett (who would later have a hand in designing New York's Rockefeller Center) and was supervised by his assistant, Wallace Harrison (who would later design Lincoln Center, LaGuardia Airport and the U.N. Headquarters Building). The building exterior features bas reliefs by Alexander Archipenko. In 1930, the PPL Building was named the "best example of a modern office building" by Encyclopædia Britannica, and also featured the world's fastest elevator.
The Plaza at PPL Center, PPL’s new office building in downtown Allentown, Pa., 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.
In February 2010, the PPL Corporation purchased the naming rights to 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 will provide sustainable energy to PPL Park derived from other sources in Pennsylvania.[10]