PP&L EnergyPlus has obtained an interim license to sell electricity in New Jersey, marking the company's official entry into the newly-deregulated energy market in the Garden State.

That's good news for New Jersey industrial and commercial electric customers who want an experienced supplier to help them understand how to get the most out of electric customer choice.

"Unlike some energy suppliers, PP&L EnergyPlus already has significant experience serving customers in a deregulated market," said Larry DeSimone, president. "PP&L EnergyPlus is one of the market leaders in Pennsylvania, where customer choice has been underway for several years."

With receipt of the 60-day interim license from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Monday (7/26), PP&L EnergyPlus can begin marketing to New Jersey customers on Aug. 1, 1999. The BPU granted interim licenses as an initial step, and is expected to make them permanent shortly.

PP&L EnergyPlus has built a reputation among its Pennsylvania customers for competitive prices, and for making electric choice simple and easy to understand. In addition to electricity, PP&L EnergyPlus also offers energy services and natural gas through its affiliated companies.

PP&L EnergyPlus is offering a free, educational CD-ROM entitled the PP&L EnergyPlus New Jersey Deregulation Guide, as part of its support of customer choice and its focus on helping customers understand deregulation.For a complimentary copy, business and commercial electric customers may call toll-free 1-877-375-8726, or visit PP&L EnergyPlus on the Internet at www.pplenergyplus.com

PP&L EnergyPlus is a subsidiary of PP&L Resources, which has been supplying electricity to New Jersey as part of the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland regional power pool since 1927.

"We're excited about the prospect of bringing New Jersey electric customers lower prices and the same deregulation experience and excellent service that thousands of our Pennsylvania customers already enjoy," said DeSimone.

PP&L Resources, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company based in Allentown, Pa. The PP&L Resources family of companies includes PP&L, Inc., which delivers electricity to 1.3 million customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania, generates electricity, and markets wholesale energy in the United States and in Canada; PP&L EnergyPlus Co., which sells competitively priced energy and energy services to newly deregulated markets; PP&L Global, Inc., which develops electric generation throughout the United States and around the world and has investments in United Kingdom and Latin American companies that distribute electricity to 2 million customers; PP&L Spectrum, Inc., which markets energy-management services and products; Penn Fuel Gas, Inc., which sells and distributes natural gas and propane in Pennsylvania and Maryland; and Burns Mechanical, Inc., H. T. Lyons, Inc., McCarl's Inc. and McClure Company, which are mechanical contracting and engineering firms that provide services in the mid-Atlantic region