PPL Corporation’s (NYSE: PPL) board of directors has elected James H. Miller chairman and chief executive officer of the company, effective Oct. 1.

The company had previously announced that Miller would replace William F. Hecht as chairman and CEO when Hecht retires at the end of this month.

Miller has served as PPL's president since August 2005 and will continue in that role.

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

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.

A native of Wilmington, Del., Miller 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, 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.