{"id":6402,"date":"2026-03-19T15:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T20:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/?p=6402"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:18:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T20:18:41","slug":"ppl-to-spend-23-billion-on-upgrades-hand-customers-rate-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/ppl-to-spend-23-billion-on-upgrades-hand-customers-rate-hike\/","title":{"rendered":"PPL to Spend $23 Billion on Upgrades, Hand Customers Rate Hike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PPL Upgrades Cost a Fortune<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"PPL
PPL announced plans to spend $23 billion to upgrade its PA grid. Learn how much more it will add to your monthly bills.<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

PPL <\/strong>has announced a p<\/a>l<\/a>an<\/a> to spend more than $8B in much needed infrastructure upgrades between now and 2029. PA has long been under fire for its aging electric grid<\/a>, facing record power outages due to poor maintenance. And now, with the increased data center demand<\/a>, making those repairs has become more important than ever to utilities. But that hefty price tag could come with electricity rate<\/a> increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PPL Facing Data Center Power Suck<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PPL <\/strong>has been kicking the can on grid upgrades and maintenance for a long time. That leaves them with a history of falling short on standards for reliability. The PA PUC<\/strong> audited<\/a> them in 2024 for this, giving them a list of changes to make.

However, the main drive behind the new budget is power demand from data centers<\/a>. Over 25 GW of data center projects are under contract in the service area, with more coming. And that extreme need for power is driving home the need for grid updates and new power generation.\u00a0And remember, public utilities are allowed by the state to earn a return on their grid\/network maintenance and expansion. So even if you shopped for the\u00a0best energy supplier,<\/a>\u00a0they can pass these costs on to your electricity bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PPL Hiking Rates to Afford Upgrades<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

PPL <\/strong>is asking the PA PUC<\/strong> for a distribution rate increase for the first time in a decade. The utility <\/strong>said the increase would fund more than 55 large-scale grid strengthening projects. This includes expanding its smart grid and completing thousands of miles of tree trimming across 29 counties. If it’s approved, the average customer could pay about $13 more a month, or about 7%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, for many customers struggling with affordability, the hike still won’t be cheap. According to the PA PUC, PPL<\/strong>‘s average residential bill<\/a> runs about $177 per month. With the increase, that amount rises to $189.40. And of that amount, PPL<\/strong> will take about $38.80 or 20% as profit<\/a>. That’s one of the highest percentages in the middle Atlantic states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PA PUC<\/strong> is expected to hand down a decision on July 1, 2026. But that’s just in time for this rate hike to collide with the hikes from PJM\u2019s capacity auction<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep Your PA Electricity Rate Low<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We’re waiting to see if the PA PUC<\/strong> approves PPL’s <\/strong>rate increase. But, with more data centers on the way, this problem isn\u2019t going to resolve itself any time soon. And rates are definitely going up this summer! So what can you do in the meantime to keep your bill low? The easiest solution is to shop for an affordable fixed rate plan at\u00a0https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PPL Upgrades Cost a Fortune PPL has announced a plan to spend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":6408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false},"categories":[9,47,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6402"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6411,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6402\/revisions\/6411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}