Economic development plays a growing role in shaping the future of the communities PPL Electric Utilities serves. From supporting new business opportunities to helping communities prepare for long-term growth, the work involves collaboration across teams, organizations and regions. In the Q&A below, Jason Hunt, manager of Business and Economic Development, shares more about what economic development means for PPL Electric, why it matters and what’s ahead.

Q: What is economic development, and what does it mean for PPL Electric?
A: When we’re talking about economic development, we’re talking about more than just bringing in a new business or responding to a site selection consultant’s inquiry about land. The goal is to drive sustainable growth and community vitality across our entire service territory by aligning what businesses need, what community priorities are and identifying long-term investment opportunities.

It’s also an important bridge. Because we work with the state, local leadership and community organizations, we can help tie different players together and position the company as a trusted partner.

Q: Why is economic development important for our company and our customers?
A: We can’t grow as a company unless our communities are growing – so economic development is obviously good for PPL. But it is also good for our customers. It brings new career opportunities, gives people a reason to live and work in our service territory, and supports growth in related industries like suppliers and local businesses. From a utility standpoint, growth supports a broader customer base to share system costs, and large energy users contribute proportionally based on usage—helping lower system costs and support long-term affordability for all customers.

Q: What makes PPL Electric’s approach to economic development different from other utilities?
A: Many utilities once had strong economic development programs, but a lot of them reduced those efforts after deregulation. For PPL Electric, the need to reestablish this work comes from the increasing demand for power — especially from industrial customers. Projects today require more power than they did just a few years ago, which means we need to get involved in the conversation earlier than we have for the last 15 years or so.

This work is also an extension of our Go BEYOND initiative for customer service. These economic development stakeholders aren’t customers yet, but we need to treat them like customers by being responsive, collaborative and solutions-oriented from the beginning.

Q: Where does PPL Electric fit into the site selection process?
A: The site selection process is like a funnel. Companies often begin with a large list of possible locations across several states before narrowing down those options over time.

Our goal is to ensure sites within PPL’s territory stay in the running for as long as possible and ultimately make it to the shortlist. That starts with responsiveness—providing quick, accurate information and helping companies understand timelines, opportunities and potential challenges.

Q: What progress has been made over the past year?
A: One of the first major steps was commissioning a competitiveness analysis to benchmark PPL Electric’s service territory against neighboring regions and national best practices.

The study identified both strengths and opportunities for improvement, including a lack of shovel-ready industrial sites. To address that, the company hired a consultant to evaluate land across its Pennsylvania service territory and identify sites with strong potential for future industrial development.

Communities will ultimately receive recommendations on how to improve those sites and make them more competitive for future projects.

We’ve also worked to strengthen relationships with local economic development organizations by providing technical assistance, training opportunities and employee involvement on local boards.

Q: What’s next for economic development at PPL Electric?
A: A major next step is completing the industrial site study, which is expected to wrap up by the end of the summer.

Another focus area is improving how projects and inquiries are tracked internally by digitizing and streamlining processes so teams across the company can better collaborate and share visibility into projects.

I think fostering that sense of camaraderie and teamwork among people who don’t normally work together on a day-to-day basis is an important ongoing part of the work.

Economic development is still relatively new at PPL Electric, so making sure people are aware of it and know when to involve me is a really important piece of what we’re building.

As PPL Electric continues building its economic development efforts, collaboration across teams and communities will remain a key focus. By strengthening partnerships, improving processes and supporting long-term growth opportunities, the work aims to help position both PPL Electric and the communities it serves for future success.

About Jason

Jason Hunt is the manager of business & economic development for PPL Electric Utilities’ service territory within Pennsylvania. PPL Electric provides electric delivery services to 1.5 million customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania. PPL Electric is part of PPL Corporation which operates and maintains a vast electric delivery system that spans 10,000 square miles and serves a population of more than 3 million.

In his role with PPL Electric, Hunt works to help companies locate and expand their businesses within PPL Electric’s service territory. He works in partnership with consultants, economic developers and state government stakeholders.