PPL Electric Utilities serves 29 counties, and now they’re working to provide that service area with improved reliability through a multi-year strategy.
The company will invest more than $8 billion in infrastructure improvements between 2026 and 2029. Efforts will include implementation of more than 55 large-scale grid strengthening projects, like replacing aging infrastructure, adding stronger poles, and installing animal, avian and lightning guards.
PPL will also expand its Smart Grid, which involves sensors that allow power to be automatically rerouted during outages. This decreases both the number of customers affected by outages and the duration of the outage.
Tree-related issues are the most common cause of outages during storms, so PPL will also accelerate tree trimming and vegetation maintenance.
This year alone, PPL will upgrade Smart Grid devices to detect and restore power in real time, replace underground cables, and replace hundreds of miles of overhead poles and wires with ones designed to withstand extreme conditions.
Officials say these upgrades aren’t optional with nearly 47,000 miles of equipment that’s aging. Similar investments by PPL between 2024 and 2025 created an almost 25% reduction in outages.
PPL Electric Utilities serves around 1.5 million homes and businesses in eastern and central Pennsylvania. More information on reliability initiatives can be found at pplelectric.com/reliability.
