After years of preparation, the benefits of electric competition will arrive in New Jersey on Nov. 14 - the first day customers can begin receiving electricity from their new suppliers.

PP&L EnergyPlus has completed all required negotiations and data links with local electric companies with which it will do business, and is ready to begin serving customers around the Garden State.

"We're excited about the prospect of bringing New Jersey electric customers lower prices and the same excellent service that our thousands of Pennsylvania customers already enjoy," said Larry De Simone, president of PP&L EnergyPlus.

"Unlike some energy suppliers, PP&L EnergyPlus already has significant experience serving customers in a deregulated market," said De Simone. "PP&L EnergyPlus is one of the market leaders in Pennsylvania, where customer choice has been under way for a few years."

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, Inc. Another PP&L Resources subsidiary, PP&L, Inc., has been supplying electricity to New Jersey through the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland regional power pool since 1927.

In New Jersey, the date electric customers start getting service from their new supplier depends on their meter reading date. Those customers who don't start service on Nov. 14 will do so shortly thereafter.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities requires PP&L EnergyPlus to tell you that switching to a competitive third party supplier is not mandatory, and you have the option of remaining with your local distribution company for basic generation service or basic gas supply service.