Many PPL team members bring a sense of service and duty that has shaped not only their careers but also the company’s culture and spirit of innovation. One of those stories belongs to Chris Null, Senior Protection and Control Engineer, whose path to PPL began aboard nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers.
A Philly Kid in Search of a Path
Growing up in Philadelphia, Null searched for a way to build a career and pay for college. Like many of his generation, he saw the military as both an opportunity and a lifeline.
His entry exam scores opened the door to one of the Navy’s most challenging tracks: the Nuclear Program. What followed was two years of intense technical training, which included trade school, nuclear power school and operating real submarine nuclear reactors during prototype training.
On Deployment at a Pivotal Moment in History
Null was eventually assigned to the USS George H.W. Bush, where he deployed in 2014 to the Middle East during the earliest months of Operation Enduring Freedom.
While stepping into leadership roles on the ship, he also became a father. He fused those two experiences into a philosophy he still carries at PPL today.
“For me, leadership has always been about taking care of people,” Null said. “This was my team. If there was a problem, you came to me first — not them. I took responsibility, and we solved it together. That’s still my style at PPL.”
Innovating for the Utility of the Future
Today, Null’s team sits at the center of some of the most complex challenges facing modern utilities — from increasing grid stability to the rise of inverter-based technologies and explosive growth in data centers.
Much of his current work directly supports PPL’s Utility of the Future strategy, especially in the areas of innovation, grid reliability and resiliency and customer value.
Bringing Down Costs for Customers: Reinventing Direct Transfer Tripping
One of the most impactful projects Null’s team is completing is a cellular-based replacement for outdated Direct Transfer Tripping (DTT) technology, which is used in power grids to protect equipment, prevent widespread outage and isolate outages to a specific line or area by proactively disrupting breakers and disconnecting sections of the grid when electric faults occur.
With the retirement of old copper phone circuits, utilities nationwide are struggling to maintain DTT without expensive fiber installations.
“Cellular DTT is going to give customers a dramatically less expensive option and could eliminate the need for the older system entirely, Null said. “That’s real customer savings, not to mention improved reliability and better long-term resilience.”
Smarter Data for a Smarter Grid
Another frontier is voltage traveling wave technology, which provides fast, precise fault detection — even on radial lines with no current flow. His team recently created a new method, Remote End Radial Line Monitoring, as part of a project spearheaded by a summer intern working alongside principal engineers.
“It was a great example of collaboration — from a junior engineer in asset strategy who proposed the concept, to our intern who built it, to my team who developed the roadmap,” Null said.
Preparing the Grid for Massive Data Center Growth
Data centers — and the artificial intelligence (AI) boom driving them — are introducing new challenges that can potentially destabilize the grid.
Null’s team is developing a new monitoring standard that creates real-time alerts for PPL’s Transmission Control Center in Pennsylvania, enabling early intervention before an issue becomes a problem.
“We don’t want to trip data centers offline. That can create even bigger problems,” he said. “But we do need to detect the warning signs early and help them correct the issue.”
These issues also apply to renewable generation sites like solar and wind farms, which use similar inverter technology.
Managing Change in a Fast-Moving Industry
“With every technological leap, new problems appear,” Null said. “Our job is to stay flexible and be ready to adapt. Some parts of the company will transform completely. Others, especially areas tied to secure systems, will remain almost unchanged. But we’ll handle it the same way we always do — with planning, teamwork and a commitment to doing it safely.”
From nuclear reactors to next-generation grid protection, Null brings a rare blend of technical mastery, leadership grounded in responsibility and a deep commitment to keeping people safe.
