PPL Chairman, CEO to Retire in 2006; President James H. Miller to Assume Top Executive Role

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- William F. Hecht, PPL Corporation's (NYSE: PPL) top executive since 1993, will retire before the end of 2006, the company announced Monday (2/27).

James H. Miller, who has served as PPL's president and chief operating officer since 2005, will become chairman and chief executive officer of the company upon Hecht's retirement.

"Bill Hecht has done an extraordinary job in leading the transformation of PPL from a regional electric utility to a worldwide company that is among the best performers in the U.S. electricity sector," said E. Allen Deaver, the lead director of the PPL Corporation board. "And one of Bill's most important accomplishments has been the assembling of a superb executive team, of which Jim Miller is the clear, insightful leader.

"PPL's board is unanimous and very enthusiastic in naming Jim Miller to carry on the outstanding leadership that Bill Hecht has brought to this company for well over a decade," said Deaver.

"Bill Hecht not only successfully guided PPL through an era of unprecedented industry change, he also led the PPL team in providing significant, wise counsel to the public officials who were reshaping the electricity business in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States," said Deaver. "Under Bill's leadership, the PPL team significantly grew shareowner value by crafting and implementing a strategy -- in the face of contrary 'accepted wisdom' -- that maintained a strong PPL presence in both regulated and deregulated businesses.

"Since 1995, PPL has provided an outstanding total return to its shareowners of 271 percent, compared with a Dow Jones Utilities Index total return of 169 percent and an S&P 500 Index total return of 138 percent," said Deaver.

"Jim Miller came to PPL with extensive and varied experience in the electricity sector. His experience and insight has been instrumental in fashioning the business model that permits PPL to forecast double-digit annual growth through the remainder of this decade," said Deaver.

PPL, which increased its earnings from ongoing operations by 11 percent in 2005 over 2004, is now forecasting a compound annual earnings growth rate of 11 percent through 2010. On Friday (2/24), the company announced a 10 percent increase in its quarterly common stock dividend, its third dividend increase in 13 months.

Deaver said the announcement of Miller's appointment is being made now to provide appropriate time for the transition, which already is underway.

Along with Hecht and John R. Biggar, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Miller already serves on PPL's board of directors. Hecht will retire from the board when he retires as an active company employee. An exact date for Hecht's retirement has not yet been established.

Miller joined PPL in February 2001 as president of PPL Generation, the subsidiary of PPL Corporation that operates about 12,000 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.

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 board of directors of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) , 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 nearly 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America. More information is available at http://www.pplweb.com/.

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

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

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

"Earnings from ongoing operations" excludes the impact of unusual items. Earnings from ongoing operations should not be considered as an alternative to reported earnings, or net income, which is an indicator of operating performance determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). PPL believes that earnings from ongoing operations, although a non-GAAP measure, is also useful and meaningful to investors because it provides them with PPL's underlying earnings performance as another criterion in making their investment decisions. PPL's management also uses earnings from ongoing operations in measuring certain corporate performance goals. Other companies may use different measures to present financial performance.

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 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.

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First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact: nlminnich@pplweb.com