News Releases

A new 11-mile power line between Washingtonville, Montour County, and Millville, Columbia County, is now in service — increasing reliability for thousands of PPL Electric Utilities customers in the area. The project represents a $6.5 million investment in the region.

“The final steps to complete the work were taken last week. This line benefits residents by allowing for increases in power demand and providing an additional power pathway to the area,” said David J. Bonenberger, general manager of Transmission Operations for the company. “It gives us greater flexibility to keep customers in service if problems, such as severe storms, affect service.”

Previously, only one 69-kilovolt transmission line from the Bloomsburg area served customers in the Millville, Rohrsburg and Benton areas. The new line, known as the Derry-Millville line, brings a second 69-kilovolt source and could also be used to reroute power to the Washingtonville area if needed.

The new line primarily used existing rights of way, limiting impact to property owners. Two miles of the new line are on land at PPL’s Montour power plant. In addition to the new line, related work that included improvements to the Milton substation also was completed.

Projects like the new line are part of PPL Electric Utilities’ continuing commitment to safe and reliable electric service for its 1.4 million customers in central and eastern Pennsylvania. The company plans to spend more than $3 billion over the next five years to upgrade its transmission and distribution network.

PPL Electric Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), provides electric delivery services to about 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania and has consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. More information is available at www.pplelectric.com.

For further information: Joe Nixon, 610-774-5997, jcnixonjr@pplweb.com