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PPL's Montour plant received a top federal safety award for its outstanding health and safety programs during a ceremony at the facility this morning.

Representatives from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration awarded the plant "Star" certification in the agency's Voluntary Protection Program. The program recognizes companies that go beyond compliance to protect worker health and safety. The VPP Star certification is the highest safety recognition given within the program.

"PPL has made a strong commitment to health and safety at its facilities, and this award for Montour is proof that commitment is working," said William F. Hecht, PPL chairman, president and chief executive officer. "This is a tremendous accomplishment, and one of which all Montour employees can be proud. It is through hard work and the cooperation between management, labor and OSHA that this plant is now a model for other companies throughout the nation."

Companies that qualify for VPP status view OSHA standards as a minimum level of safety and health performance and set their own, more stringent standards for effective employee protection. VPP participant sites generally experience 60 percent fewer lost workday injuries than would be expected of an average site for its industry. Only 932 work sites have earned recognition in the program out of more than 7 million that OSHA monitors.

The Montour plant's "designation as a VPP site is a testament to sustained excellence in all areas of your safety and health management system," wrote John L. Henshaw, assistant secretary for Occupational Safety and Health in the U.S. Department of Labor, in announcing the award.

OSHA evaluates the following components of a safety and health program to determine if a facility is worthy of VPP Star status: management leadership, employee involvement, work-site analysis, training, and hazard prevention and control.

"We've always been a very safe plant, and our unified effort through the VPP process has helped us to further focus our safety efforts," said Joe Kremer, Montour chief steward, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1600. "It's nice to be recognized as a safe place to come to work every day."

An OSHA team re-evaluates VPP Star sites every three to five years for recertification. To be recertified, sites must continue to show improvement in their safety and health programs.

PPL's Montour plant is one of six PPL facilities that have achieved VPP Star status. The 1,540-megawatt plant consists of two coal-fired, steam- electric generation units located in Derry Township, Montour County. It employs about 210 people and began commercial operation in 1972.

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls about 11,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.

SOURCE: PPL Corporation

CONTACT: Rod Keller, PPL Corporation, +1-570-784-9324

Web site: http://www.pplweb.com/