Increase Brings Dividend Payout Ratio to 50 percent;
Dividend Up More than 30 Percent in Past Year

Following through on its previously announced plan to more aggressively grow the dividend and to attain a 50 percent payout ratio by 2006, PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) has increased its common stock dividend by 10 percent.

The company today increased the quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.275 per share, or from $1.00 to $1.10 per share on an annualized basis. The increased rate is payable
April 1, 2006, to shareowners of record as of March 10, 2006.
 
This is the company's 241st consecutive quarterly dividend and the fifth consecutive year that PPL has increased the dividend. PPL increased the dividend twice in 2005, and the annualized dividend rate is up by more than 30 percent since the start of 2005.

Based on the company's closing stock price yesterday of $31.07 per share, today's dividend increase would improve the current yield on PPL common stock to 3.5 percent.

John R. Biggar, PPL's executive vice president and chief financial officer, said the new annualized dividend rate of $1.10 per share will bring the payout ratio to 50 percent. The ratio is based on the $2.20 per share midpoint of the company's current 2006 earnings forecast of $2.15 to $2.25 per share. The increase in the dividend rate significantly exceeds the company's projected earnings growth for 2006, consistent with PPL's previously announced plan to grow dividends at a rate exceeding the growth rate in earnings per share.

Biggar said PPL expects that the growth rate of its dividends will continue to exceed the growth rate in the company's earnings per share and, therefore, result in a dividend payout ratio above 50 percent over the next few years. All future dividend decisions, Biggar noted, are subject to the board of directors' quarterly dividend declarations based on the company's financial position and other relevant considerations at the time.

In addition, PPL Electric Utilities Corporation, a PPL subsidiary, today declared the following quarterly dividends on its preferred stock, payable April 1, 2006, to shareowners of record as of March 10, 2006.

 Preferred
 4-1/2%   $1.125
 3.35% Series  $0.8375
 4.40% Series  $1.10
 4.60% Series  $1.15
 6.75% Series  $1.6875

PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls about 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America. More information is available at www.pplweb.com.

 
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Statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings and dividends, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although PPL Corporation 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; market prices for crude oil and the potential impact on synthetic fuel tax credits and our synthetic fuel operations; weather conditions affecting customer energy usage and operating costs; competition in power markets; the effect of any business or industry restructuring; the profitability and liquidity of PPL Corporation 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 and the related costs of compliance, including environmental capital expenditures and emission allowance and other expenses; system conditions and operating costs; development of new projects, markets and technologies; performance of new ventures; asset acquisitions and dispositions; any impact of 2005's hurricanes on our business, including any impact on fuel prices; receipt of necessary government permits, approvals and rate relief; capital market conditions and decisions regarding capital structure; the impact of state, federal or foreign investigations applicable to PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries; the outcome of litigation against PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries; stock price performance; the market prices of equity securities and the impact on pension income and resultant cash funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans; the securities and credit ratings of PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries; political, regulatory or  economic conditions in states, regions or countries where PPL Corporation or its subsidiaries conduct business, including any potential effects of threatened or actual terrorism or war or other hostilities; foreign exchange rates; new state, federal or foreign legislation, including new tax legislation; and the commitments and liabilities of PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries.  Any such forward-looking statements should be considered in light of such important factors and in conjunction with PPL Corporation's Form 10-K and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.