Nov 13, 2020 | Safety and Security
You hear a lot from us about utility scammers. Why is that?
Because they never take a day off. They’re always looking for the next opportunity to trick you into giving them money or your personal information. Often, they threaten to shut off your power if you don’t pay instantly.
That’s not how we operate at PPL. Ever. We may call you to discuss an overdue bill, but our goal is to help get you the assistance you need. We offer options, not ultimatums. Service will never be disconnected without advance written notice.
It’s always a good time to reinforce how you can avoid becoming a scam victim. These thieves want to catch you off guard and push you into doing something quickly. Don’t fall for it.
If you get a call, an email, or someone comes to your door, and you think it might be a scammer, slow down and use your senses. Look and listen closely. If something doesn’t seem right, call us at 1-800-342-5775 to verify anything someone tells you about your electric service or your account.
Be familiar with your account and account balance. Take time to check what you’re being told against your account at pplelectric.com or on your paper bill.
Another piece of advice: spread the word. ? If a scammer tries to target you, they may also try to target others in your community. Together, we can stop scams.
Learn more: Fraud & Deceptive Marketing
Sep 1, 2020 | Reliability
Combine innovation with smart investment and good things happen.
In our case, a comprehensive installation of smart grid technology over recent years has allowed us to prevent more than 1.3 million customer outages since 2015. That’s a major milestone and one we believe can’t be equaled by any other electric utility in the country.
What is smart grid? It’s a combination of state-of-the-art automated sensors and switches, coupled with an advanced software system, that acts instantly to reroute power around a trouble location and reduce the outage footprint to the smallest possible area. Our lineworkers then respond to make the necessary repairs.
A million is a huge number, but what does it mean? We estimate that customers have avoided a total of 100 million minutes in the dark since 2015. That’s 190 years of time!
This achievement demonstrates how we’re using technology, innovation, and data to deliver more for you, our customers. It’s how we reliably power your home, business, and community each day. That’s peace of mind and value for your energy dollar.
We’re going to keep imagining, keep innovating and keep making our grid stronger, smarter, and more reliable and resilient. Here’s to the next million!
Aug 3, 2020 | Safety and Security
Most of us don’t like to think that we could be affected by something like a house fire or a flood, but the numbers say otherwise. According to the Department of Homeland Security, floods are the most common natural disaster in the U.S.
Electricity and water can be a dangerous combination.
Here are a few tips to keep yourself and your family safe when flood waters rise.
- Never use electric appliances or touch electric wires, switches or fuses when you’re wet or standing in water.
- Stay clear of electrical equipment in rooms with flooding.
- If you have to stand in water to turn off power at the breaker box, don’t do it! Call us at 1-800-342-5775 and we’ll shut off power at the meter.
- Keep electric tools and equipment at least 10 feet away from wet surfaces.
- Don’t use electric yard tools if it’s raining or the ground is wet.
For more resources about flood safety visit ready.gov/floods or check out these tips from ESFI.
Jul 24, 2020 | Safety and Security
Installing a fence or mailbox post? Building an addition? Starting a big landscaping project?
There’s one thing you always need to do before you or your contractor start digging.
Call 8-1-1 for the Pennsylvania One Call System to help prevent contact with underground powerlines or other utilities.
The call ensures that a crew comes out to mark all the areas with spray paint, flags, or other identifiers where underground utilities exist, whether they be power lines, water lines, sewer lines or gas lines.
State law requires an 811 call before digging with any power equipment in Pennsylvania. That call must be placed three business days prior to a dig.
We recommend that an 811 call be placed for any digging activity, whether it is an old-fashioned shovel or powered machinery, to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
Each year, we receive reports of about 60 to 75 digging incidents in which the person doing the digging failed to call 811. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission says that there are about 6,000 hits each year on underground utilities in the state overall.
If there’s construction going on in your neighborhood involving digging and you’re unsure whether an 811 call was placed, it never hurts to make that call just to be safe.
When calling 811, be prepared to share the following information:
- The county and municipality in which the planned dig is located.
- The street name and address.
- The nearest intersecting/cross street to the address.
- Details of the dig site, including the area of the property where excavation will occur and what kind of work is being done.
- When the project is scheduled to take place.
- The name of the company doing the work (if applicable).
For more information on safe digging, visit pa1call.org.
Jul 10, 2020 | Reliability
The world is changing fast and the electric power grid is no exception.
For the longest time, power flowed just one way: from the power plants, across transmission lines, to substations and finally through distribution lines to homes and businesses.
Now, with more renewable energy like solar and wind, that power is starting to flow both ways, with renewable power coming onto the grid.
Renewable energy is right for our customers, community and world. That’s why we’ve invested in the future to make sure the power grid is ready.
Our network of transmission lines (#2 below) plays an important role in supporting renewables. Just like our highway system, transmission is responsible for moving electricity quickly and safely over long distances. 
A cleaner energy future requires moving electricity to cities and other areas that need it. Transmission is critical in transporting renewable energy from where it is produced – often in remote, rural areas – to where it’s needed.
The sun doesn’t always shine, and wind doesn’t always blow. New technologies are needed on the transmission system to keep electricity flowing whenever power is needed.
We’ve taken steps to modernize and upgrade the transmission system to help prevent outages for customers, safeguard against cyber and physical attacks, and to support adding more renewables to the grid.
Sensors automatically identify problems on the grid, so power can be remotely rerouted to where it is needed, isolating the problem and quickly restoring power to customers.
We’re doing other things like using data analytics to signal when a piece of equipment needs to be replaced and identifying damaged or diseased trees– before they cause a power outage.
Preserving our transmission system is increasingly important to a safe and reliable power grid. With our innovation and advanced technology, we’ll be prepared.
To learn more about the important role of transmission, visit pplelectric.com/transmission.
