As part of its continuing restructuring to take full advantage of the opportunities in emerging markets, PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL) has named a 30-year veteran of the energy industry to head the company's U.S. energy delivery business.

Michael E. Bray, who currently is president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Edison Development, Inc., will join PPL on April 17. He initially will serve as senior vice president of PPL Electric Utilities Corp. and vice chairman of PPL Gas Utilities Corp. These two companies, which are subsidiaries of PPL Corp. and conduct business as PPL Utilities, deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 1.3 million customers in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Following the completion of PPL Corp.'s previously announced corporate realignment, Bray will become president of PPL Electric Utilities Corp. and will continue to hold the position of vice chairman of PPL Gas Utilities Corp. In this capacity, he will lead the activities of the corporation's electricity and gas delivery businesses.

"We are very pleased to welcome Mike Bray to the PPL family of companies," said William F. Hecht, PPL Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer. "His wealth of experience in a variety of roles for a number of the leading energy companies in this country makes him a natural for this important position."

Since the early 1970s, Bray has worked in key positions for General Electric Co., a major supplier of equipment to the energy business; ABB Power Generation, which sells power equipment on a worldwide basis; and DB Riley, which manufactures and services generation and pollution control equipment for utility and industrial boilers.

For two years prior to taking his present position at ConEd, Bray was senior vice president in charge of Long Island Lighting Co.'s generation and electricity delivery businesses.

PPL Corp., the holding company for the organization, in February announced the planned realignment of its subsidiaries into four primary businesses to enhance execution of its integrated growth strategy. Regulatory approvals for this realignment are expected by mid-year.

In addition to PPL Utilities, Allentown, Pa.-based PPL Corp. will have three other primary businesses following the realignment:

7 PPL EnergyPlus, LLC, which will market wholesale or retail electricity in 43 states as well as Canada. PPL EnergyPlus already is one of the leading suppliers of competitively priced electricity in the mid-Atlantic region.

7 PPL Generation, LLC, which will operate the company's growing fleet of domestic power plants. The company will own and operate PPL's existing plants in Pennsylvania, Montana and Maine and plants in other areas as PPL expands its generation holdings.

7 PPL Global, Inc., which owns and operates companies in the United Kingdom and Latin America that deliver electricity to 2.2 million customers and develops energy projects in the United States and overseas. PPL Global currently owns power plants in Spain and Portugal and is building plants in Connecticut, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

"Providing high quality, reasonably priced energy delivery services in the United States is one of the things that we do best at PPL," said Hecht. "We are confident that Mike's leadership of PPL Utilities will help us to continue to build on this already-impressive record."

Hecht pointed out that PPL's growth strategy, which includes the more than doubling of its generation capacity by the middle of this decade, already is producing significant earnings improvement.

"Our 1999 earnings per share of $2.35, adjusted to exclude one-time items, were the highest in corporate history, and our forecasts show that earnings will continue to grow significantly, to between $2.95 and $3.00 per share in 2001," said Hecht. "In achieving this forecast level, we will have increased our earnings per share by about 60 percent in just three years."

Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings and generation capacity, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although PPL Corp. believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the statements. The following are among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: market demand and prices for energy, capacity and fuel; weather variations affecting customer energy usage; competition in retail and wholesale power markets; the effect of any business or industry restructuring; the profitability and liquidity of PPL Corp. and its subsidiaries; new accounting requirements or new interpretations or applications of existing requirements; operating performance of plants and other facilities; environmental conditions and requirements; system conditions and operating costs; performance of new ventures; political, regulatory or economic conditions in countries where PPL Corp. or its subsidiaries conduct business; foreign exchange rates; and the commitments and liabilities of PPL Corp. and its subsidiaries. Any such forward-looking statements should be considered in light of such factors and in conjunction with PPL Corp.'s Form 10-K and other reports on file with the SEC.