PPL Corporation is an electric utility that both generates electricity and delivers it to consumers in the northeastern and western United States and the United Kingdom.^[1] Because the company both generates and transmits electricity - known as vertical integration - it earns higher returns than traditional utilities (which only transmit electricity - they buy power from third party sources) and more stable earnings than electric suppliers (which aren't regulated by the government and therefore aren't guaranteed a profit). ^[2] On the unregulated supply side, PPL’s power plants in the United States have a total generating capacity of 11,418MW, 61% of which comes from fossil fuels. ^[3] On the regulated distribution side, the company serves approximately 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom. ^[1]

Steps towards deregulation of the electric industry at the state and federal levels in the United States have resulted in increased competition in the wholesale electric market. In 1996, Pennsylvania enacted the Customer Choice Act to restructure the state’s electric utility industry to create a competitive market for electricity generation. ^[4] However, on the utility side, PPL Electric maintains a regulated distribution monopoly in its service areas under authorization from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.^[3]

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