Mar 18, 2026 | Reliability
As the weather warms up and many of us start dreaming about new flowers, trees and shrubs, it’s a great time to think about how your landscaping choices can support both a beautiful yard and reliable electric service. Trees and shrubs do so much good for our environment — they clean the air, offer shade, support wildlife and add natural beauty to our homes. But when planted too close to power lines, they can also cause avoidable outages, especially during storms.
That’s why choosing the right tree or plant for the right place is so important. The trees and shrubs you plant today will continue to grow for decades and giving them the proper space now helps ensure they won’t interfere with power lines or create safety concerns in the future. By selecting the right species and planting them in the right spots, you can help prevent outages, protect your home and keep your landscaping healthy as it matures.
To make planning easier, we offer a list of trees and shrubs that can be safely planted near power lines. It includes options of all sizes — from beautiful flowering trees like Dogwoods and Eastern Redbuds, to larger shrubs such as Black Elderberry and American Witch-Hazel, to smaller favorites like Mountain Laurel, Black Huckleberry and even common berry bushes. You can explore the full list and get more tips at pplelectric.com/KnowBeforeYouGrow.
When it comes to tall-growing trees, be sure to give them plenty of room to reach their mature height. Anything that will grow taller than 25 feet should be planted at least 50 feet away from overhead power lines to prevent issues down the road. It’s also helpful to keep ground-mounted transformers clear of any new vegetation. Doing so ensures our crews can work safely and quickly whenever maintenance or repairs are needed.
Spring planting often means digging too, so don’t forget one of the most important steps: calling 811 at least three business days before you start. This free service marks underground utilities, including buried power lines, so you or your landscapers can work safely and avoid damaging critical infrastructure.
If you’re maintaining existing trees on your property, remember that pruning near power lines should always be left to trained professionals. Working close to electric lines is extremely dangerous and could result in serious injury or death. For work near the service wire that runs from our pole to your home, we can temporarily de-energize the line and lower it so you or your contractor can safely handle the job. Just give us a call at 1-800-342-5775 at least five business days before the work begins.
And if you see our crews trimming trees or working on equipment in your neighborhood, please keep a safe distance. A little space helps keep both you and our employees safe while they complete important reliability work.
If you’re looking for extra guidance or inspiration as you plan your spring projects, the Arbor Day Foundation offers helpful tools and resources for choosing the right tree or shrub and selecting the best location for planting. It’s a great place to learn more, visit the Arbor Day Foundation’s website.
A little planning goes a long way — for your safety, your yard and the reliability of the electric service we provide to you and your neighbors. Together, we can ensure that the planting we do today grows and blooms well into the future.
Feb 10, 2026 | Customer Service
On Friday, Jan. 30, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company announced it will build a $3.5 billion injectable medicine operation — its first facility in Pennsylvania — in Fogelsville, Lehigh County. Electric service to the facility will be powered by PPL Electric Utilities. The investment is the largest life sciences investment in the history of Pennsylvania, and the largest investment of any kind in the history of the Lehigh Valley.
The Fogelsville site was one of four chosen nationwide out of 300 total applicants. The site selection process was competitive; Eli Lilly could have picked anywhere in the world to build its operations, but it chose our backyard, thanks in part to the capabilities of PPL Electric.
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks announcing a $3.5 billion investment in a new facility in the Lehigh Valley, where construction is expected to begin in 2026.
Communities may not always see us at work, but we are the energy backbone that allows businesses to grow and neighborhoods to thrive. There’s no denying that a reliable electric system is an economic asset.
Service you can trust
Companies expanding or investing in our territory depend on uninterrupted service, and they choose regions where the infrastructure can keep up with the pace of their businesses.
We have invested over $13 billion in our system since 2013, with nearly $7 billion more planned through 2028. These investments include automating our grid and replacing aging equipment with stronger poles and wires to ensure improved reliability for all customers.
We have streamlined our interconnection process to be one of the fastest in the industry. We provide businesses with high-level estimates in under 10 days, feasibility reports in a matter of weeks — not months — and often start construction in 6-12 months, pending regulatory approvals. This helps projects stay on schedule and give our service territory an advantage in economic development.
During the site selection, Eli Lilly was specifically looking for a region that could offer speed to market. Because of PPL Electric’s commitment to interconnection, more than 2,000 construction jobs and 850 permanent, full-time jobs are coming to our region.
Bringing life to life sciences
The Eli Lilly announcement is the latest in a string of life science investments in our service territory.
In December 2025, Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories unveiled a $147.5 million investment that will expand company operations in Lancaster County, creating 250 jobs and retaining over 3,000 more. And in October 2024, biopharma company GSK announced an investment of up to $800 million in Lancaster County, creating more than 200 jobs.
Powering the future
The desire for growth is on the rise in our region. Our location, abundant resources, strong reliability and streamlined interconnection process make Eastern and Central Pennsylvania an attractive destination for investment. We continue to invest in our system — not just for today, but for decades to come.
We are ready to power your business, too. For more, visit pplelectric.com/EconomicDevelopment.
Feb 9, 2026 | Community Involvement
Highly skilled problem solvers and innovative thinkers are important to tomorrow’s workforce. That’s why, every year, we celebrate a group of local STEM teachers who dedicate their time toward helping make our future a brighter place.
This year, we selected five teachers to be recipients of our STEM Educator Awards. Each recipient is receiving $1,500 for classroom supplies. Since this program started in 2003, PPL Foundation has awarded more than $500,000 in grants.
In addition to the awards, we’re recognizing each teacher for the positive impact they’re making on our students.
Douglas Brown
School: Central Columbia High School
Grade(s): 9-12
Douglas has been a dedicated Agricultural and Environmental Science instructor at Central Columbia for 35 years, teaching courses about wildlife science, soil, horticulture, agricultural engineering and more. He has developed a curriculum focused on high-priority careers in agriculture and environmental science, helping instruct students on diverse career paths. His students recently won the 2025 Susquehanna Valley Regional Envirothon, further demonstrating how lessons learned in the classroom are making an impact beyond Central Columbia’s walls.
Colleen Cook
Grade(s): 6-8
Colleen has been a special education teacher at North Pocono since 2010, developing programs for students with autism and intellectual disabilities. She leads a program called The Brew Crew, a student-run coffee cart integrating STEM, communication and vocational skills. Funds from this grant will be used in part to further develop this program. In addition to her commitment to special education, Colleen has helped run several STEM fairs and events at the middle school.
Judean Finkenbinder
Grade(s): 5-8
Judean has been a teacher for 15 years, joining Susquenita in 2023. She is a dedicated STEM teacher at the middle school, weaving the Engineering Design Process into lessons to define problems and create solutions. Judean’s eighth grade students research and explore alternative energy sources and how they are used, creating wind turbines and measuring energy production.
Ross Gunderson
School: Eastern York High School
Grade(s): 9-12
Ross has taught for over a decade across several levels of education and has been a physics teacher at Eastern York since 2023. His hands-on curriculum includes artificial intelligence, helping students design 3D-printed rockets. Ross also serves as the advisor for the high school’s newly founded robotics club, creating additional learning opportunities for students and showcasing his passion for STEM outside of the classroom.
Adam Zeni
School: Ephrata Middle School
Grade(s): 6-8
Adam’s passion for STEM shows in the projects he leads at the middle school, including What’s So Cool About Manufacturing, where students partner with local companies to design videos highlighting modern manufacturing. He also mentors students in the NASA TechRise Student challenge, guiding them as they design experiments for flight aboard NASA-sponsored vehicles. These programs are just part of his daily commitment to supporting hands-on STEM education in Ephrata.
Congratulations to all this year’s winners — thank you for engaging the next generation of innovative thinkers. We wish you all a happy school year!
For more information, click this link to view our news release.
Dec 22, 2025 | Community Involvement
With the end of the 2025 calendar comes the end of the holiday season, a time filled with family, community and joy.
Throughout the year, and throughout the holidays, it’s the moments along the way — big and small — that fuel our passion to deliver safe and reliable power.
This holiday season has been a busy one for us in our communities, and we are grateful to have been able to take part in a few big events that bring joy and warmth to us all.
Lighting up the holiday in Allentown
There are few symbols more iconic during the season than the holiday tree. Our team had a blast taking part in downtown Allentown’s annual tree lighting ceremony in early December. From driving into Allentown’s ArtsPark in our decorated bucket truck to turning on the tree with the wave of a candy cane wand, the event featured everything that makes this time of year special.
Oh, and we forgot to mention Santa! We were even able to pull the big man in red away from his duties at the North Pole to take part in the festivities.
Setting the tree in Lancaster
You can’t light a tree if there isn’t a tree to light! That’s where we helped in Lancaster. To prepare the city for its lighting ceremony, our crews arrived at a home in nearby Millersville to pick up the annual holiday tree. The tree was then delivered to Penn Square in downtown Lancaster, where our crews used their equipment to safely set the tree for all to enjoy.
The gift of giving in Williamsport
Most recently, a team of PPL Electric volunteers around Williamsport headed to the local Salvation Army as part of its Red Kettle Campaign. Our volunteers helped local families pick out gifts for their loved ones and helped deliver the gifts and food items to residents’ vehicles and homes.
These are events we take part in every year to help make our communities a little brighter during the holiday season. And while we always look forward to helping lend a hand this time of year, we also look forward to helping power the little moments of magic that happen throughout the year.
PPL Electric Utilities wishes you all a safe and joyous end to your holiday season, and we look forward to delivering for you in 2026.
Dec 19, 2025 | Storms and Outages
Sunday, Dec. 21 at 10 a.m.
Restoration efforts continue following the strong winds that swept across our territory this weeekend.
As of 10 a.m. Sunday, 105,000 customers have had service restored since the beginning of the storm, and crews have made repairs at over 1,000 individual job sites.
All customers impacted by an outage as of 9 a.m. Sunday are expected to be restored by 11 p.m. Sunday, though many customers will have power restored sooner. We’re continuing to assess remaining damage and will narrow down estimated restoration times as crews make repairs. We want to assure you that we still have hundreds of crews out in force, including from outside our service territory to help get the lights back on.
We will all continue to work diligently around the clock until every customer’s lights are back on.
Stay connected:
- Report power outages online at pplelectric.com or text “Outage” to TXTPPL (898775).
- Stay informed by downloading our new mobile app, where you can easily report and track outages. The app is free to download from the Apple Store or Google Play.
Stay safe:
- Remember, should you encounter a downed wire at any time, assume its energized and stay away. Report downed wires to PPL Electric or local emergency response agencies.
- Never operate a portable generator in an enclosed area, like a garage, where deadly carbon monoxide fumes could accumulate.
- Always use flashlights instead of candles as they can start fires.
- Turn off appliances that were on when the power went off.
- Create alternate plans if you have a medical condition that relies on electricity or call 9-1-1 for assistance.
- Check on elderly family members, neighbors and others who may need assistance during an outage period.
- For your safety and ours, please keep a safe distance from our crews.
Stay warm:
- Keep warm air in by using your doors as infrequently as possible, and close off unoccupied rooms.
- Close blinds to keep warm air in.
Saturday, Dec. 20 at 11 a.m.
Our crews continue to work tirelessly to restore power to all customers after sustained strong winds caused outages across our service territory.
As of 8:30 a.m. Saturday, almost 86,000 customers have been restored since the storm began. There have been over 1,300 individual locations of damage on our system.
Because of the scope of repairs, full restoration could continue through the weekend, though many customers will have their service restored sooner. We know how difficult it is to be without power. We still have hundreds of field-based and back-office emergency response personnel working as safely and as quickly as possible. We have also brought in additional crews to help in our restoration efforts.
We understand how important accurate estimated restoration times (ERTs) are, and we are doing our best to provide accurate information as soon as possible. All customers experiencing an outage have been assigned an ERT. Our teams are continuing to assess remaining damage and will narrow down these ERTs as crews arrive to make repairs. We encourage you to visit our outage map for updated information on estimated restoration times: pplelectric.com/outage.
Our teams will not stop until every customer’s lights are back on.
Stay connected:
- Report power outages online at pplelectric.com or text “Outage” to TXTPPL (898775).
- Stay informed by downloading our new mobile app, where you can easily report and track outages. The app is free to download from the Apple Store or Google Play.
Stay safe:
- Remember, should you encounter a downed wire at any time, assume its energized and stay away. Report downed wires to PPL Electric or local emergency response agencies.
- Never operate a portable generator in an enclosed area, like a garage, where deadly carbon monoxide fumes could accumulate.
- Always use flashlights instead of candles as they can start fires.
- Turn off appliances that were on when the power went off.
- Create alternate plans if you have a medical condition that relies on electricity or call 9-1-1 for assistance.
- Check on elderly family members, neighbors and others who may need assistance during an outage period.
- For your safety and ours, please keep a safe distance from our crews.
Stay warm:
- Keep warm air in by using your doors as infrequently as possible, and close off unoccupied rooms.
- Close blinds to keep warm air in.
Friday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
Sustained strong winds continue to impact our service territory. We expect gusty conditions through the overnight hours could lead to additional outages.
Since the start of the windstorm early Thursday morning, more than 81,000 of our 1.5 million customers have experienced a power outage, and there have been almost 1000 individual locations of damage on our system.
Our crews continue to work as safely and efficiently as possible to repair extensive damage like broken poles and equipment, downed trees and limbs, and downed wires. Over 40,000 customers have been restored so far, and we are working around the clock to restore service to all customers.
Because of the scope of repairs, full restoration could continue through the weekend. We know how difficult it is to be without power. We have hundreds of personnel responding to the storm, providing both field-based and back-office emergency response operations across our 29-county service territory. This includes lineworkers, foresters, damage assessors and call center staff. We want to again assure you that our crews will not stop until every customer’s lights are back on.
Stay connected:
- Report power outages online at pplelectric.com or text “Outage” to TXTPPL (898775).
- Stay informed by downloading our new mobile app, where you can easily report and track outages. The app is free to download from the Apple Store or Google Play.
Stay safe:
- Remember, should you encounter a downed wire at any time, assume its energized and stay away. Report downed wires to PPL Electric or local emergency response agencies.
- Never operate a portable generator in an enclosed area, like a garage, where deadly carbon monoxide fumes could accumulate.
- Always use flashlights instead of candles as they can start fires.
- Turn off appliances that were on when the power went off.
- Create alternate plans if you have a medical condition that relies on electricity or call 9-1-1 for assistance.
- Check on elderly family members, neighbors and others who may need assistance during an outage period.
- For your safety and ours, please keep a safe distance from our crews.
Stay warm:
- Keep warm air in by using your doors as infrequently as possible, and close off unoccupied rooms.
- Close blinds to keep warm air in.
Follow this blog for updates on restoration or visit pplelectric.com/outage.
