Record Outages, Rising Rates: What Every PPL Customer in PA Needs to Know (And How to Fight Back)
- Rock the Capital
- 10 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Recent Rate Increases
December 2024 rate hike—Residential rates increased to 10.771¢/kWh.
June 2025 increase approved—A 16% rate hike bringing rates to 12.491¢/kWh, adding approximately $22–28 per month for typical residential customers.
New rate case pending—PPL is seeking an additional $356.3 million annual revenue increase (approximately 7% increase for residential bills).
Record-Breaking Outage Problems
Worst outage year in decades—PPL experienced 17 reportable outages in 2024, the most by any electric company in 32 years.
1.8 million customer interruptions recorded throughout the year.
Record PP&L profits.
Tree-related issues—Approximately 60% of outages were caused by tree-related problems, raising questions about PPL's vegetation management.
Infrastructure Investment Plans
$7 billion grid improvement plan through 2028 includes smart grid upgrades and enhanced vegetation management
DSIC cap increase approved—PPL received permission to increase its automatic Distribution System Improvement Charge cap from 5% to 9%, allowing the company to recover infrastructure costs more quickly
Data Center Cost Concerns
Legislative pressure—State lawmakers are pushing the PUC to ensure data centers pay their fair share of infrastructure costs. “The Union of Concerned Scientists (“UCS”) found that in 2024 alone, utilities in seven PJM states passed more than $4.3 billion in additional costs on to customers, with billions more still to come. These costs come from local transmission upgrades made to provide transmission- level service directly to data centers.” See more details HERE.
Expected demand surge—PPL anticipates significant electricity demand from data center development across central Pennsylvania.
Governor Shapiro's Lawsuit Against PJM
Filed in December 2024—Governor Shapiro along with a number of eastern and midwestern governors filed a federal complaint with FERC against PJM Interconnection (the regional grid operator), not PPL directly.
The issue—PJM's 2025/26 capacity auction resulted in costs of $14.7 billion, representing an over 800% increase from the prior year and threatening over $20 billion in unnecessary consumer costs.
Settlement reached—In January 2025, a settlement was negotiated and approved by FERC in April 2025, lowering the auction price cap from over $500/MW-Day to $329/MW-Day.
Consumer savings—The settlement saved consumers $8.3 billion across the region, with 13 million Pennsylvanians saving over $1.6 billion, averaging $116 per household. These savings will be erased by the proposed rate increase which adds $156 to the average residential bill.
The PUC Review Process
Investigation underway—The PUC suspended PPL's $356 million rate increase request for investigation (standard regulatory procedure, not a lawsuit).
Public hearings held —The PUC conducted seven public input hearings (five in-person plus two telephonic) in December 2025 in Catasuqua, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre.
Next Meeting is Monday, December 15, 2025 – 1:00 PM & 6:00 PM
Call-in Telephonic Public Input Hearings. **Pre-registration is encouraged by December 11, 2025.
In order to register to speak at these call-in hearings, you need to call or email Legal Assistant Pamela McNeal’s office: by phone at 215-560-4228 or by email at pmcneal@pa.gov.
Click HERE and scroll to Page 2 for more info about how to register and what info you need to provide. Don’t let households pay the price for corporate breaks. Make your voice heard!
The hearing will be lived streamed on Rock the Capital’s Facebook page HERE.
Consumer advocates involved—Various parties intervene in rate cases including CAUSE-PA, Environmental Petitioners, the Office of Consumer Advocate, consumer groups, and individual advocates like Eric Epstein at Rock the Capital.
Final decision pending—The PUC will review all evidence, public comments, and expert testimony before making a final determination
Core Tensions
PPL is requesting substantial rate increases to fund infrastructure improvements while customers simultaneously face:
Record outages and service reliability problems
Record PP&L profits
Rising cost of living pressures
Previous rate increases already straining household budgets
Questions about whether past infrastructure investments have been effective
What Consumers Can Do
Submit comments—File comments with the PUC using the case number R-2025-3057164.
Attend hearings—Participate in public input hearings when scheduled.
Stay informed—Track case documents on the PUC's website.
Contact consumer advocates—Organizations like Rock the Capital and the Office of Consumer Advocate represent consumer interests.
Eric Epstein & Rock the Capital's Consumer Advocacy
Who is Eric Epstein?—Founder of Rock the Capital, a non-partisan PA government watchdog formed in 2005 to combat government corruption, promote transparency, and hold our leaders accountable.
Long history of utility advocacy—Epstein has intervened in multiple PP&L and PPL rate cases over the years, successfully negotiating settlements that reduced rate requests and secured enhanced consumer provisions.
Past successes with PPL—In previous rate cases, Epstein helped secure reductions in PPL's rate requests and obtained increased funding for low-income usage reduction programs.
Broader advocacy work—Rock the Capital has fought for eliminating legislative slush funds, tracking pension payouts, and ensuring compliance with Pennsylvania's Right to Know and Sunshine Laws.
Rock the Capital’s operating principles—The organization operates from the “radical center” on the principle that "The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men" (Plato), advocating for open, accountable, and ethical government.
The fight between rising utility costs and consumer protection continues. Organizations like Rock the Capital, led by advocates like Eric Epstein, remind us that citizen engagement and watchdog oversight remain essential to keeping government agencies and utilities accountable to the people they serve.
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