LG&E and KU highlight system hardening investments during Severe Weather Awareness Week

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) - As part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company are highlighting significant system hardening enhancements underway to help the electric system better withstand increasingly severe weather and reduce outages for customers across Kentucky.

With extreme weather events occurring more frequently and with greater intensity, LG&E and KU are committed to building a stronger, more resilient energy grid. The utilities are using a robust data-driven strategy and revised system design criteria to better withstand storms that bring freezing rain and higher winds. They're installing stronger wires and poles for system hardening; replacing wooden poles on the transmission system with steel poles; and investing in real-time monitoring and automated technologies.

"Our customers trust us to keep the lights on, no matter what nature sends our way," said Adam Smith, Vice President of Electric Distribution. "These system hardening upgrades are more than improvements - they're protections. We're continuing to build a stronger grid, so families and businesses experience fewer disruptions and faster restoration when severe weather strikes."

A Multi-Year Commitment to Strengthening the Grid

LG&E and KU's ongoing investments have already delivered meaningful improvements for customers-reducing the frequency of outages by 40% and shortening their duration by 30%. These efforts continue through the Distribution System Hardening and Resiliency Program (DSHARP), a multi-year effort to strengthen neighborhood-level electric infrastructure.

Through DSHARP, LG&E is deploying:

• Smart reclosers that automatically detect and isolate outages to restore service more quickly.
• Circuit ties that redirect electricity, keeping more customers online when disruptions occur.
• Stronger, hardened lines-including advanced spacer cables-to replace aging equipment.
• Targeted undergrounding in areas with high vegetation density or repeated storm-related outages.

These enhancements reinforce the "last mile" of the energy system where the majority of outages occur, helping reduce impacts when severe weather strikes.

Ongoing Upgrades to Aging Infrastructure

While LG&E and KU continuously invest in their electric transmission and distribution systems, some equipment in parts of the system still dates to the 1920s. Wooden transmission poles that have reached the end of their useful life are being replaced with more durable steel structures. Over the next five years, the company plans to strengthen hundreds of substations and deploy more automation technologies to improve resiliency and support quicker restoration.

Preparing Communities for a More Resilient Future

In recent years, storms across the region have ranked among the most damaging on record-knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers and damaging thousands of poles and wires. LG&E and KU's long-term investments in the grid, paired with year-round vegetation management, are designed to better protect homes and businesses from prolonged outages and help the grid adapt to more severe and frequent weather.

More information about LG&E and KU's long-term investments and reliability improvements can be found at lgeku.com/investments.

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Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve more than 1.3 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 335,000 natural gas and 436,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 545,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and 28,000 in five counties in Virginia. More information is available at www.lge-ku.com and www.pplweb.com .