PPL Corp

Talen Litigation(PPL and PPL Electric)

On December 22, 2023, PPL announced that it entered into a settlement agreement (Settlement Agreement) with Talen Montana, LLC and affiliated entities (Talen) to resolve all claims made by Talen in Talen Montana, LLC et al. v. PPL Corp. et al, Adv. No 22-09001 pending before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and arising out of the June 2015 spinoff of PPL Energy Supply, which was renamed Talen. Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, PPL paid Talen $115 million and Talen dismissed all claims against PPL. Separately, PPL and Riverstone mutually agreed to dismiss all remaining claims in a settlement in January 2024. This matter is now concluded. See "Legal Matters" in Note 13 to the Financial Statements for additional information.

Purchase of Renewable Tax Credits(PPL)

During 2023, PPL purchased approximately $300 million of renewable tax credits, as allowed by the IRA. The credits were acquired at a discount. PPL believes that it will be able to monetize the acquired credits within the foreseeable future and recorded the associated benefit of the discount as a reduction of income taxes as of December 31, 2023. In addition, PPL recorded a deferred tax asset representing credits that will be utilized in future periods.

IRS Revenue Procedure 2023-15(PPL and LG&E)

On April 14, 2023, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2023-15, which provides a safe harbor method of accounting that taxpayers may use to determine whether expenses to repair, maintain, replace, or improve natural gas transmission and distribution property must be capitalized for tax purposes. PPL and LG&E are currently reviewing the revenue procedure to determine its potential impact on their financial statements.

Regulatory Requirements

The Registrants cannot predict the impact that future regulatory requirements may have on their financial condition or results of operations.

Environmental Considerations for Coal-Fired Generation

The businesses of LG&E and KU are subject to extensive federal, state and local environmental laws, rules and regulations, including those pertaining to CCRs, GHG, and ELGs. See Notes 7,13 and 19 to the Financial Statements for a discussion of these significant environmental matters. These and other environmental requirements led PPL, LG&E and KU to retire approximately 1,200 MW of coal-fired generating plants in Kentucky since 2010. As part of the long-term generation planning process, LG&E and KU evaluate a range of factors including the impact of potential stricter environmental regulations, fuel price scenarios, the cost of replacement generation, continued operations and major maintenance costs and the risk of major equipment failures in determining when to retire generation assets.

As a result of environmental requirements and aging infrastructure, LG&E has sought and obtained approval to retire two older coal-fired units at the Mill Creek Plant. Mill Creek Unit 1, with 300 MW of capacity, is expected to be retired in 2024. Mill Creek Unit 2, with 297 MW of capacity, is expected to be retired in 2027, subject to certain conditions. See Note 7 to the Financial Statements for additional information.

CPCN and SB 4 Application

On December 15, 2022, LG&E and KU filed an application with the KPSC for a CPCN for the construction and purchase of various generating facilities in conjunction with the retirement of four existing coal-fired generation units and three small gas-fired units. On March 24, 2023, Kentucky Senate Bill 4 (SB 4) went into effect, which requires KPSC approval of the retirement of fossil fuel-fired electric generating units in the state. On May 10, 2023, LG&E and KU filed an application with the KPSC seeking approval of the retirement of seven fossil fuel-fired generating units as required by SB 4. On May 16, 2023, the KPSC entered an Order consolidating the SB 4 filing proceeding into the CPCN case.

On November 6, 2023, the KPSC issued an order approving LG&E’s and KU’s requests (i) to construct a 640 MW net summer rating NGCC combustion turbine at LG&E's Mill Creek Generating Station in Jefferson County, Kentucky, (ii) to construct a 120 MWac solar photovoltaic electric generating facility in Mercer County, Kentucky, (iii) to acquire a 120 MWac solar facility to be built by a third-party solar developer in Marion County, Kentucky and (iv) to construct a 125 MW, 4-hour battery energy storage system facility at KU's E.W. Brown Generating Station. The KPSC denied the request to construct a 621 MW net summer rating NGCC combustion turbine at KU's E.W. Brown Generating Station in Mercer County, Kentucky at this time, based on the finding that the construction of this unit should be deferred with the construction date beginning on a date that provides for an in-service date in 2030. The order also authorized LG&E's and KU's entry into the four solar PPAs, subject to certain conditions, but deferred for future proceedings specific decisions on cost recovery treatment or mechanisms. Further, the order approved the new, adjusted or expanded energy efficiency programs contained in the requested 2024-2030 DSM plan.

The new NGCC facility will be jointly owned by LG&E (31%) and KU (69%) and the solar units will be jointly owned by LG&E (37%) and KU (63%), the battery storage unit will be owned by LG&E, and the proposed PPA transactions and DSM programs will be entered into or conducted jointly by LG&E and KU, consistent with LG&E and KU's shared dispatch, cost allocation, tariff or other frameworks.

See Note 7 to the Financial Statements for additional information.

Kentucky March 2023 Storm

On March 3, 2023, LG&E and KU experienced significant windstorm activity in their service territories, resulting in substantial damage to certain of LG&E's and KU's assets with total costs incurred through December 31, 2023 of $74 million ($33 million at LG&E and $41 million at KU). On March 17, 2023, LG&E and KU submitted a filing with the KPSC requesting regulatory asset treatment of the extraordinary operations and maintenance expenses portion of the costs incurred related to the windstorm. On April 5, 2023, the KPSC issued an order approving the request for accounting purposes, noting that approval for recovery would be determined in LG&E’s and KU’s next base rate cases. As of December 31, 2023, LG&E and KU recorded regulatory assets related to the storm of $8 million and $11 million.

FERC Transmission Rate Filing

In 2018, LG&E and KU applied to the FERC requesting elimination of certain on-going waivers and credits to a sub-set of transmission customers relating to the 1998 merger of LG&E's and KU's parent entities and the 2006 withdrawal of LG&E and KU from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO), a regional transmission operator and energy market. The application sought termination of LG&E's and KU's commitment to provide certain Kentucky municipalities mitigation for certain horizontal market power concerns arising out of the 1998 LG&E and KU merger and 2006 MISO withdrawal. The amounts at issue are generally waivers or credits granted to a limited number of Kentucky municipalities for either certain LG&E and KU or MISO transmission charges incurred for transmission service received. In 2019, the FERC granted LG&E's and KU's request to remove the ongoing credits, conditioned upon the implementation by LG&E and KU of a transition mechanism for certain existing power supply arrangements, which was subsequently filed, modified, and approved by the FERC in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, LG&E and KU and other parties filed appeals with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the FERC's orders on the elimination of the mitigation and required transition mechanism. In August 2022, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order remanding the proceedings back to the FERC. On May 18, 2023, the FERC issued an order on remand reversing its 2019 decision and requiring LG&E and KU to refund credits previously withheld, including under such transition mechanism. LG&E and KU filed a petition for review of the FERC's May 18, 2023 order with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and provided refunds in accordance with the FERC order on December 1, 2023. The FERC issued an order on LG&E and KU’s compliance filing on November 16, 2023, and LG&E and KU filed a petition for review of this November 16 order on February 14, 2024. The proceedings at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals were held on abeyance until February 15, 2024, but a motion to hold the proceedings on abeyance for an additional 60 days was filed on February 15, 2024, to allow the FERC time to substantively address LG&E and KU’s request for rehearing of the November 16 order. LG&E and KU cannot predict the ultimate outcome of the proceedings or any other post decision process but do not expect the annual impact to have a material effect on their operations or financial condition. LG&E and KU currently receive recovery of certain waivers and credits primarily through base rates increases, provided, however, that increases associated with the FERC's May 18, 2023 order are expected to be subject to future rate proceedings.

(PPL)

Advanced Metering Functionality (AMF)

In 2021, RIE filed its Updated AMF Business Case and Grid Modernization Plan (GMP) with the RIPUC in accordance with the Amended Settlement Agreement (ASA) approved by the RIPUC in August 2018, and which among other things, sought approval to deploy smart meters throughout the service territory. After PPL completed the acquisition of RIE, RIE filed a new AMF Business Case with the RIPUC in 2022, consisting of a detailed proposal for full-scale deployment of AMF across its electric service territory.

On September 27, 2023, the RIPUC unanimously approved RIE to deploy an AMF-based metering system for the electric distribution business. RIE is authorized to seek recovery of the approved capital investment through the ISR process with an overall multi-year cap on recovery at approximately $153 million, subject to certain terms, conditions and limitations with respect to the potential offsets and recoverability of certain costs. RIE is required to continue spending even if above the recovery cap, until it achieves the functionalities outlined in the AMF Business Case. RIE filed with the RIPUC (i) an updated electric Service Quality Plan on December 27, 2023 for RIPUC approval and (ii) additional compliance tariff provisions regarding recovery and updated cost schedules to reflect the RIPUC's decision on December 22, 2023 for RIPUC approval. RIE cannot predict the outcome of these matters.