PPL Electric Utilities Solidly Focused on Reliability, Service, Cost, Company Official Tells State House Committee

ALLENTOWN, Pa., March 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Speaking at an informational meeting of the Pennsylvania House Consumer Affairs Committee, an officer of PPL Electric Utilities said Thursday (3/15) that the company remains solidly focused on issues that matter most to consumers: reliability, service and cost.

Robert M. Geneczko, vice president of Customer Services, described for legislators some of the actions that PPL Electric Utilities is taking to address those consumer issues. He said that the company:

-- Will spend more than $1 billion over the next five years to improve and expand its electric delivery system. -- Will offer new pricing options and services using the power of advanced electric meters. -- Has put forth a proposal that gives consumers the best possible protection from price increases when the current cap on the largest component of the electric bill expires in 2010.

Geneczko also reiterated PPL Electric Utilities' support for electric competition in Pennsylvania.

"Competitive electricity markets can - and do - provide lower consumer prices than would be available in a regulated market," he said. "It's important that Pennsylvania complete the transition started by passage of the Customer Choice Act."

He cited a recent review of Pennsylvania's electricity market that concluded consumers are paying 12 percent less for electricity today than they were in 1996, when prices are adjusted for inflation.

Geneczko explained to the committee that PPL Electric Utilities today is very different from the old Pennsylvania Power & Light Company. PPL Electric Utilities is one part of a large and diverse energy company, PPL Corporation, and that each subsidiary of the corporation is separate and distinct from the others.

PPL Electric Utilities delivers electricity to about 1.4 million customers in 29 counties of eastern and central Pennsylvania. Its continuing focus on customers has earned the company numerous awards in independent studies of customer service and satisfaction.

PPL Corporation , headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls more than 11,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America. More information is available at http://www.pplweb.com/.