News Releases

Pete Simonich will conclude a career spanning nearly 35 years in the power generation business when he retires as PPL Montana’s vice president and Chief Operating Officer on June 1.

Charles Baker, currently PPL Montana’s controller, will become general manager for Montana operations of the new Talen Energy Corporation, which will be established when PPL completes the spinoff of its competitive Energy Supply business on June 1.

Simonich, a Montana native and lifelong resident, lives in Laurel. In 1981, he joined the former Montana Power Company as a startup engineer at the Colstrip plant, and worked for much of his career at Colstrip. He was a maintenance supervisor, operations manager and production area leader before being appointed plant manager in 1999. In 2004, he became manager of Generating Assets, responsible for PPL Montana’s hydroelectric plants and environmental compliance. He was named PPL Montana vice president and Chief Operating Officer in 2009.

He has a degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University and is a registered professional engineer in Montana.

Baker, who lives in Billings, also is a Montana native. He joined the PPL Montana accounting group in 2000. He has been PPL Montana’s controller since 2003. For the past five years he has been PPL Montana’s representative on the Colstrip plant joint operating committee with the plant’s other five owners. Before joining PPL Montana, he was an audit manager with KPMG, LLP in Billings.

He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with finance and accounting emphasis, from the University of Montana, and is a certified public accountant in Montana.

PPL Montana is a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL). More information about PPL Montana is available at www.pplmontana.com.