Tracing our roots to Thomas Edison himself, PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), through its subsidiaries, has been empowering economic vitality and quality of life for the communities we serve for nearly a century.
Pennsylvania Power & Light Company was created in 1920 through the consolidation of eight electric companies with 62 power plants serving central and eastern Pennsylvania.
PPL has grown from a company with customers and facilities in one region of Pennsylvania to a diverse energy company with more than 10 million customers and nearly 13,000 employees in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Today, we are one of the largest purely regulated utilities in the U.S., one focused on advancing a smarter, cleaner, more reliable energy future for generations to come.
Historical Timeline
1920
Pennsylvania Power & Light Company (PP&L) is Born
1928
The company finishes construction of its iconic tower building in Allentown, Pa., where our headquarters still reside today. Wallace K. Harrison, architect of the tower building, used its design to inspire his design of Rockefeller Center in New York City.
1940
PP&L powers the progress of the industrial revolution by building a vast energy grid of transmission, substation and distribution infrastructure. Over the next 17 years, a total of 750 industries are encouraged to locate in the region, creating more than 56,000 job opportunities for residents.
1948
PP&L begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
1958
PP&L adds more than 150 megawatts of power generation capacity with the completion of Holtwood Unit 17 and Martins Creek power generation plants.
1968
Female engineers join the ranks.
1979
PP&L introduces energy conservation programs for customers, helping them cope with double-digit inflation, a sign of the times.
1981
The company surpasses 1 million customers served.
1984
PP&L goes nuclear with the Susquehanna Nuclear Generating Station. When fully operational, the plant was capable of producing 63 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per day.
1995
PP&L Resources, Inc. becomes the parent company of PP&L. PP&L Resources, Inc. becomes a holding company of the regulated electric utility, PP&L and emerging unregulated businesses.
Two years later, in 1997, Pennsylvania Power & Light Company changes its name to PP&L, Inc.
1998
PP&L becomes the first utility to receive a license from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to sell electricity and energy services in Pennsylvania’s newly formed competitive power market.
2000
PP&L Resources, Inc. changes its name to PPL Corporation and PP&L, Inc. changes its name to PPL Electric Utilities Corporation.
2010
PPL completes the acquisition of two regulated utilities in Kentucky — Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company.
2011
PPL completes the acquisition of two regulated regional electricity distribution companies in the United Kingdom. Together with two previously acquired regional electricity distribution companies, the company operates under the name Western Power Distribution.
2015
PPL completes its transformation to a company solely focused on high-performing regulated utilities through the spinoff of its competitive generation business.