News Releases

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (April 18, 2018) — If you missed your chance last fall to get free trees in the inaugural season of Community Roots, don’t scrap your watering can.

Ordering for spring and fall 2019 is now open.

The goal of the PPL Electric Utilities program is to give trees to county and municipal parks, environmentally-focused groups and schools. In schools, Community Roots will be available to fourth-graders, provided the school they attend in PPL’s service area successfully applies for trees.

Trees are available in three types: bare-root seedlings, container seedlings and gallon container seedlings and are given away on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested groups or schools can order trees online at www.pplcommunityroots.com. The ordering site also can be reached through PPL Electric’s environment web page, www.pplelectric.com/environment.

Based on orders placed last year, about 20,000 trees will be planted across the PPL service territory in central and eastern Pennsylvania this spring and fall. Trees being delivered over the next few weeks will be planted in 20 of the 29 counties served by PPL.

“Community Roots launched last September and within six weeks we had given away the allotment of trees for 2018,” said Michael Hasel, PPL Electric Utilities’ manager of environmental compliance. “Trees provide many environmental and energy-efficiency benefits, so we had high hopes for Community Roots and those hopes were realized.”

PPL removes and trims trees along power lines to help keep reliability strong. Community Roots provides the benefits of trees without affecting grid performance. Those requesting trees are reminded to always plant the right tree in the right place so it doesn’t interfere with overhead or underground utilities when it matures.

To help stay safe when planting, always call 811 at least three business days before planting so underground utilities can be marked.

“Being part of the community can take many forms. We’re proud to say Community Roots is one of them,” Hasel said.

PPL Electric Utilities provides electric delivery service to more than 1.4 million homes and businesses in Pennsylvania and ranks among the best utility companies in the country for customer service and reliability. PPL Electric Utilities is a major employer in the communities it serves. It is a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL). For more information visit www.pplelectric.com.

Visit our media website at www.pplnewsroom.com for additional news and background about PPL Corporation.