PPL Corporation announced Monday (7/31) that William F. Hecht, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, will retire Oct. 1. Hecht had announced earlier this year that he planned to retire during 2006.

The company previously announced that James H. Miller, who currently serves as president of the $13 billion company, will assume the additional roles of chairman and chief executive officer upon Hecht’s retirement.

“On behalf of all the employees and retirees of PPL, I thank Bill for his outstanding leadership and insight over four decades of service to this company. PPL is one of the top U.S. electricity companies and a major reason for our success has been the leadership of Bill Hecht,” said E. Allen Deaver, lead director of the PPL Corporation board.

“Over the past ten years, the company has provided a superior total return to its shareowners of 278 percent, compared with a Dow Jones Utilities Index ® total return of 173 percent and an S&P 500 Index ® total return of 136 percent,” said Deaver. And, PPL is forecasting a compound annual earnings growth rate of 11 percent through 2010.

“From the time he was named PPL’s top executive, Bill has worked relentlessly to build a top-notch executive team,” said Deaver. “Jim Miller, with more than 30 years of varied electricity business experience, has been an indispensable member of that team and is uniquely qualified to lead PPL’s efforts to continue to grow value for PPL shareowners.”

Deaver said that the company recently further strengthened its executive management team with the addition of William H. Spence as chief operating officer. Spence, who reports to Miller, has responsibility for the company’s electricity generation, marketing and delivery businesses on three continents.

Upon retirement, Hecht also will step down from the PPL board. Miller and John R. Biggar, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will continue to serve on the PPL board.

Hecht joined PPL in 1964 and held a number of management and executive positions before being named executive vice president-Operations in 1990, when he was elected to the company’s board of directors. He became president of the company in 1991 and assumed the additional role of chairman and chief executive officer in 1993.

Hecht, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Lehigh University, is deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, where he has served as a director since January 2004. He also serves on the board of directors of DENTSPLY International, York, Pa., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of dental products; on the board of directors of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., a global provider of reinsurance and insurance; and on the boards of trustees of Lehigh University and of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

Miller joined PPL in February 2001 as president of PPL Generation, the subsidiary of PPL Corporation that operates about 11,500 megawatts of electrical generation capacity in the United States. He was promoted to executive vice president of PPL Corporation in January 2004 and became chief operating officer in September 2004. He was named president and chief operating officer in August 2005.

Before joining PPL, Miller was executive vice president of USEC Inc., an international supplier of enriched uranium to nuclear utilities. Previously, he was president of two ABB Group subsidiaries: ABB Environmental Systems, which supplied air pollution control equipment for the power industry; and ABB Resource Recovery Systems, which specialized in the design, construction and operation of waste-to-energy plants. He also served as president of the former UC Operating Services, an unregulated subsidiary of Constellation Energy and Louisville Gas and Electric Co.

A native of Wilmington, Del., Miller began his career in the electricity industry at the former Delmarva Power & Light Co., where he held various engineering and management positions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Delaware and also served in the U.S. Navy nuclear submarine program.

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls about 11,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to nearly 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.

Total return figures used in this release assume reinvestment of dividends.

Hi-Res Hecht photo: /NR/rdonlyres/F77492B9-941B-4A85-B745-4C4D86381902/0/h_hecht.jpg.

Hi-Res Miller photo: /NR/rdonlyres/4D5AE099-9551-4049-844C-1A940D7F8A41/0/lg_miller.jpg

Statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings, 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 operations; synthetic fuel purchases from third parties and the phase-out of synthetic fuel credits; weather conditions affecting generation production, customer energy usage and operating costs; competition in retail and wholesale power markets; liquidity of wholesale power markets; the effect of any business or industry restructuring; the profitability and liquidity, including access to capital markets and credit facilities, of PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries; new accounting requirements or new interpretations or applications of existing requirements; operation and availability of existing generation facilities and operating costs; transmission and distribution system conditions and operating costs; current and future environmental conditions and requirements and the related costs of compliance, including environmental capital expenditures and emission allowance and other expenses; significant delays in the planned installation of pollution control equipment at certain coal-fired generating units in Pennsylvania due to weather conditions, contractor performance or other reasons; development of new projects, markets and technologies; performance of new ventures; asset acquisitions and dispositions; political, regulatory or economic conditions in states, regions or countries where PPL Corporation or its subsidiaries conduct business; any impact of  hurricanes or other severe weather on PPL Corporation’s business, including any impact on fuel prices; receipt of necessary governmental permits, approvals and rate relief; new state, federal or foreign legislation, including new tax legislation; state, federal and foreign regulatory developments; impact of state, federal or foreign investigations applicable to PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries and the energy industry; capital markets conditions, including changes in interest rates, and decisions regarding capital structure; stock price performance of PPL Corporation; the market prices of equity securities and the impact on pension costs and resultant cash funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans; securities and credit ratings; foreign currency exchange rates; the outcome of litigation against PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries; potential effects of threatened or actual terrorism or war or other hostilities; 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.

Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company, Inc.