Citing slow economy, PPL drops expansion plan

PPL Corp., the Allentown electric utility, said today that it is abandoning a plan to expand its Holtwood hydroelectric plant on the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County.

"We reached the conclusion that it is no longer economically justifiable" in light of the nation's recession and energy-price projections, chief operating officer William H. Spence said.

The company proposed the expansion, now estimated to cost $440 million, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a year ago. The plan would have added two hydroelectric turbine generators that would have produced enough electricity to power 100,000 typical homes.

The application now has been withdrawn.

PPL serves four million electric customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom.