Apr 8, 2025 | Community Involvement, Safety and Security
For lineworkers like Kyle Hammaker, the primary focus each day is to keep everyone safe at every work site and make sure everyone returns home each night the same way they arrived for work that day.
So it was no surprise that Hammaker’s protective instincts kicked in when he noticed someone who appeared to be in distress while he was traveling to a work site recently.
Hammaker, a PPL Electric Utilities employee for 13 years, was traveling along Route 230 in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, when he saw a man who appeared to be struggling while walking along the shoulder. After passing the man, he looked his rearview mirror and noticed he had fallen to the gravel-covered ground.
Hammaker immediately found a safe place to pull over and rushed to help. He soon determined the fallen man appeared to be injured and was barely breathing. While he was providing assistance, another passerby who stopped to help called 911 for an ambulance. Hammaker, who feared that the backpack the man had wrapped around himself may have been restricting his breathing, found a way to remove it.
“Throughout the situation, I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I knew this person needed help,” Hammaker said. “He was in and out of consciousness and I just wanted to be there for him to keep him calm.”
Within minutes, an ambulance arrived, as did a sister of the fallen man. She indicated that her brother was likely experiencing an epileptic seizure. The medics providing assistance quickly began giving the man the care he needed and transported him to a hospital.
Hammaker was grateful for the quick response by the medical team, not to mention the first aid training he’s received in the past.
Mike DiCicco, a PPL Electric Utilities field manager for the Harrisburg and Lancaster regions, praised Hammaker for taking swift, decisive action to help someone in need.
“Kyle is no stranger to taking responsibility during emergencies as he works on our daytime crew,” DiCicco said. “I am so thankful and proud that he stopped and took the action that he did. This act of service and kindness is a testament to Kyle’s character.”
Mar 29, 2025 | Reliability
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we celebrate the many women here at PPL Electric Utilities who have paved the way, and those who are helping us create the utility of the future today.
One of the women currently helping power our business is Lycoming County native Katy Snyder, a field supervisor working out of our Pocono Service Center in Tannersville. A former lineworker, Katy is one of two female field supervisors across PPL Electric, and the only female field supervisor at her location.
In her role, Katy and her fellow field supervisor oversee the lineworker crews at their service center. There’s no shortage of duties throughout the day; viewing and assigning job sites, visiting crews in the field and gathering field observations are just a few of the day-to-day responsibilities.
“The days can get pretty busy,” Snyder said. “And at the end of the day, we try our best to look ahead and plan for the next because of the uncertainties of our work.”
Entering the world of line work is not a typical career path for women. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than five percent of lineworkers are women. But that’s where Snyder started her journey.
“Before PPL, I was working at a feed mill and I was the only female in the entire company,” she said. “And growing up with my dad as a farmer, I always found it satisfying to build things with my hands and see the end result – it felt good to know that I made something.”
A friend of hers suggested that she move on from the feed mill and get started on a new career path. As a lineworker himself he suggested giving it a shot, saying plainly that she would quickly know whether or not it would be the career for her.
“By the second day of line school, I knew this was for me,” she said. “Climbing poles, building lines and running trucks – this was it.”
And up into the air she went, beginning her career as a contractor before joining PPL Electric in 2021. Growing up inside of the service territory, she was familiar with the company and had family and friends who worked there. From the time she was a kid, she knew she wanted to work at PPL Electric in some way.
“I can remember going to a friend’s house in second grade and talking to their parents, who both worked at PPL in different departments,” Snyder said. “I’ve carried that conversation with me. And it was always my end goal to be able to help the people in my own community.”
After three years of line work at PPL, she was promoted to the field supervisor role. Now guiding multiple all-male crews of lineworkers, Snyder was also tasked with working at a new location with new colleagues.
“Initially, they were not sure what to think because they had only ever had male supervisors,” she said. “I thought it was important to be persistent in getting to know the team and understand them as people.”
She says that between she and her fellow supervisor, they’ve cultivated a family culture since teaming up a year and a half ago. Snyder believes leading her team begins with building morale and camaraderie.
“This line of work can be hard on home life,” she said. “These guys are working in every weather condition for long hours, while missing time, holidays and life events with their families to keep the lights on for our customers. We spend a lot of time together here at work, so I think it’s important to try hard to make their lives and their jobs safer and easier.”
But Snyder says, no matter the conditions, the crews know that their hard work is helping their communities.
“I can drive down the street during a storm, see an outage and know the person who is living in that house,” she said. “It gives us purpose knowing that we can keep the lights on for our customers, friends and families.”
Mar 3, 2025 | Environment
We have a longstanding commitment to handling our business in ways that preserve and promote a clean, safe and healthy environment for all, including our wildlife.
A group of our feathered friends will be finding this out in March. A family of ospreys will soon be returning to their nest from a warm trip down south, but they’ll be returning to a new location.
Our teams in Cumberland County are working on upgrading a stretch of transmission lines along Rossmoyne Road and Interstate 76 in Mechanicsburg. Wooden poles like the one seen below are being replaced with the more reliable metal structures that surround it. This will increase reliability for customers in the Mechanicsburg, New Cumberland and West Shore areas.
The ospreys’ nest once sat on that wooden pole in the picture above. But in order to replace the pole, the nest had to be moved.
Thanks to a conscious construction and environmental team, the ospreys are being given a safer home just feet away from their original dwelling.
In early February, crews removed the osprey nest from the wooden utility pole but made sure to keep the nest intact. Meanwhile, the team ordered a 55-foot platform that was put up across the road from the power lines at the end of the month. The osprey nest is now perched on top of this platform, giving the birds a higher, 360-degree view of their habitat – and the ongoing reliability project – below.
“Ospreys use the same nest every year,” said Tom Eby, a senior environmental pro at PPL Electric overseeing the project. “When they come back to this area, they’ll notice that their nest has moved, but they’ll also notice that it isn’t far away. We’ve done projects like this in the past and we’ve seen strong results.”
Ospreys were once listed as an endangered species, and the population reached as low as a singular nest in Pennsylvania. Thanks to many efforts to reintroduce the species to the area, the population has now rebounded. Our team has partnered with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and others over the years to construct more than a dozen platforms like this.
Providing good nesting areas away from our power lines is not just good for our wildlife, it is also good for our customers’ reliability. This project is an example of the work we do year-round to build a stronger, more resilient grid.
“Increased reliability for our customers is always the goal, but building a platform for these majestic birds is icing on the cake for us,” Eby said.
The three-year transmission project is almost finished; the ospreys’ old home was perched on one of the last-standing wooden poles. The job is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. While we work, we know our eyes in the sky will be watching closely.
Nov 26, 2024 | Community Involvement
Central and eastern Pennsylvania are special places. We’ve felt that way for over 100 years because of our communities and the people who live here. And the holidays are an annual reminder of family and community, as we rally around each other with the hope of bringing warmth, joy – and food – to all.
But not everyone is able to fill their homes with the food they need. That’s why we and our employees are teaming up with local organizations to help make sure nobody goes hungry this holiday season.
We are joining abc27 News and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank in Harrisburg for the annual Feed a Local Family campaign, which aims to increase charitable donations to the food bank. Joe Arthur, CEO of the food bank, says that it is currently in a “hunger crisis,” serving more families and individuals in need than at the height of the pandemic.
“We’re fighting hunger all year long,” Arthur said. “But during the holiday season, we also want to make sure families in need have the great holiday foods that we all enjoy.”
Arthur and Soni Dimond, a reporter from abc27, recently stopped by our West Shore Service Center in Mechanicsburg. We recorded a few TV segments and also gave a donation to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. Our employees all chipped in to donate a total of 544 pounds of food.
“It’s fantastic to partner with the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank,” said Kelly Palmer, regional affairs director at PPL Electric Utilities. “Our partnership dates back several decades. They’re going to be able to get food on families’ tables who really need it.”
Even if you aren’t able to donate right now, the food bank is always accepting donations to feed its more than 250,000 monthly visitors. These donations can be food, but money can also be donated to purchase food.
“The best advice I have for people this time of year really is to give back to the community,” Palmer said. “This time of year tends to bring out the best in people. That’s what community is really about at the end of the day – doing the right thing and coming together to give back.
Click the link here to donate to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.
Nov 11, 2024 | Community Involvement, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion
Every Veterans Day, we honor all who have served in the military. Veterans at PPL Electric Utilities can join our PPLVets business resource group, which holds veteran-led meetings and events throughout the year. Through the PPL Foundation, we’re also proud to support organizations throughout our 29-county service territory that assist veterans.
The I’M ABLE Foundation is one of these organizations. The foundation is based in Wyomissing and is a recent recipient of a Powering Equity grant. I’M ABLE builds on its mission to remove obstacles for people with challenges, providing them with access to programs and equipment tailored to their needs.
In addition to providing free adaptive and inclusive group fitness programs for children, I’M ABLE also provides free fitness and mentorship opportunities for veterans though its Operation Lead from the Front program.
“The I’M ABLE Foundation is a place where people can come and get active – people of all abilities,” said Brian Sutherland, director of development for the I’M ABLE Foundation.
The foundation hosts classes at its gym twice a week and also takes part in events on select weekends. While the childrens’ and veterans’ fitness classes bring in different audiences, veterans have the opportunity to take part in mentoring and helping children in the foundation’s I’M FIT classes.
Jason Kish is a military veteran who has become a mentor for two children in the I’M FIT class.
“It just makes my life more enriched, just to get away from my normal day-to-day routine,” Kish said. “This is something that’s just hard to describe – how rewarding it is.”
A photo of Kish (left) and Josh (right) during one of the program’s I’M FIT classes.
Since I’M ABLE began hosting classes, attendance has jumped from an average of five participants to 40 per class. Sutherland says that this jump is thanks to donors like the PPL Foundation that make this programming free.
“You guys giving back to the community and making this possible for people of all abilities – it makes a difference,” he said. “All these kids can come together and just be celebrated for who they are and what they can do.”
“The work that they are doing to advance inclusivity in our community is so important,” said Kelly Palmer, PPL Electric Utilities regional affairs director. “It’s really meeting a community need, and it’s exactly the type of program we would want to fund through the Powering Equity grant. We are proud to support the I’M ABLE Foundation, and we are proud to support our veterans.”
