PPL

• PPL should implement a program for senior citizens on       

fixed incomes who will be forced into a “hardship class.”    

As another company pledges to compete in PPL's market, activists ask the Legislature to delay the expiration of electricity rate caps.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

BY DANIEL VICTOR dvictor@patriot-news.com

The middle of an ugly economic climate when people are already struggling to pay their bills is the wrong time to jolt PPL customers with a 30 percent bill increase, a group of activists argued at the Capitol on Tuesday.

"The increases will be significant, the suffering will be significant," said Eric Epstein of Rock the Capital. "People will be making choices they shouldn't have to make between food, warmth and medicine."

Epstein and others argued that legislators should quickly act to extend rate caps that have kept prices at 1996 levels.

August 28, 2009

No safety issues found to prevent reactors from running another 20 years.

By Rory Sweeney 

Times Leader Staff Writer

 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded that there are no safety issues that would stop PPL Corp. from relicensing its Susquehanna nuclear station for another 20 years, according to a report released by the agency on Thursday.

 Eric Epstein has submitted a memo challenging sections of the petition of PPL Electric Utilities Corporation for Approval of an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan.

As a PPL customer, Epstein questions "the legality and appropriateness of PPL’s Time of Use programming," among other issues. 

July 23, 2009

HARRISBURG – According to an audit report released today by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), PPL Electric Utilities Corp. (PPL) may realize yearly savings up to $1.9 million and one-time savings of $9.8 million by implementing recommendations contained in the audit.

The Commission voted 5-0 to make the audit report and the company’s implementation plan public.  The Focused Management and Operations Audit analyzed and evaluated management performance in 12 areas.  The audit was conducted by the PUC’s Bureau of Audits Staff.

The audit makes 23 recommendations to the company for improvement.  The company’s implementation plan accepted all 23 of the recommendations.

 PPL Electric Utilities may soon settle with petitioners, if a judge gives approval to offer customers a voluntary alternative energy program and to Bank Alternative Energy Credits. 

Read the joint settlement filed May 28, 2009, and related documents: 

 On December 22, 2008 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted 

 PPL Bell Bend LLC, (1) Combined License Application (“COL” or "COLA") for an 

Evolutionary Power Reactor (“EPR”) at the Bell Bend  Nuclear Power Plant 

 Three Mile Island Alert's Questions on the 

NRC’s Annual Assessment of the 

Susquehanna Steam Electric Station 

May 19, 2009 

1)  PPL sought to publicly hide the extent of their decommissioning losses in 

an affidavit the Company submitted to the NRC on March 26, 2009.  PPL’s 

one year decommissioning losses are staggering by any standard. “The fair 

value of investments that are legally restricted due the decommissioning of 

the Susquehanna Nuclear plant was $446 million and $555 million in at 

December 31, 2008 and 2007...” (PPL 2008 Annual Report,  Nuclear 

Decommissioning, p. 191) 

PPL lost $109 million from the fund in one year and now has$446 

million out of projected $936 million (2002 dollars) needed to 

decommission it operating nuclear units. 

How will PPL recoup the losses after 12/31/2009? 

 PPL, in April 2009, requested an exemption from regualations, asking the NRC's permission to withhold from the public reports related to the costs of decommissioning the plant and the "financial assurances" required by federal law; assurances that the company has the funds to decommission the plant. 

In this letter, a PPL officer asks the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to keep the reports "just between the two of them." 

To read the document, open pdf: