ALLENTOWN, Pa. – PPL Corporation is reporting a strong third quarter as future energy demands continue to loom large on the horizon.

On Wednesday, Vincent Sorgi, PPL’s president and chief executive officer, talked to investors and members of the media about the company’s most recent financial snapshot, as well as changes and goals that will roll into the new year.

Crunching the numbers

PPL reported a fiscal 2025 third-quarter net income of $318 million, up from $214 million a year ago, a jump of nearly 50%.

Adjusting for special items, third-quarter 2025 earnings from ongoing operations (non-GAAP) were $355 million, or $0.48 per share, compared with $310 million, or $0.42 per share, a year ago.

Revenue came in at $2.24 billion, exceeding many Wall Street forecasts.

PPL has narrowed its earnings forecast range to $1.78 to $1.84 per share from $1.75 to $1.87 per share. The midpoint remains $1.81 per share.

The company also reaffirmed its projection of 6% to 8% annual earnings per share (EPS) and dividend growth through at least 2028, with EPS growth expected to be in the top half of the targeted range.

PPL Electric’s performance

PPL Corp. is the parent company of PPL Electric Utilities. Both are based in Allentown.

The utility’s reported earnings and earnings from ongoing operations in the third quarter of 2025 increased by $0.02 per share compared with a year ago, the company said.

Also, reported earnings in the first nine months of 2025 increased by $0.05 per share compared with a year ago. Earnings from ongoing operations in the first nine months of 2025 increased by $0.03 per share compared with a year ago.

Data center update

An update on projected data center energy consumption has become standard in PPL’s investor events, and Wednesday’s report was no exception. “Momentum continues to build in PPL Electric Utility’s service territory in terms of interconnection requests to our transmission network,” said Sorgi.

The number of data center projects in advanced stages of planning- projects that have either an assigned electric service agreement (ESA) or a signed letter of agreement (LOA)- have jumped more than 40% from 14.4 gigawatts to 20.5 gigawatts. In addition, Sorgi said, there are another 70 gigawatts of demand in the queue.

According to PPL, the growing demand (coupled with increased strain on grid operator PJM) is a major reason why the company should be allowed to build and own its own generation facilities again in Pennsylvania. As a regulated utility, PPL Electric is prohibited by state law from doing so.

In July, PPL Corp. announced a joint venture with Blackstone Infrastructure in which they would build, own and operate new gas-fired power plants. The joint venture does not include PPL Electric. When asked for an update on specific projects in the queue, Sorgi said he had nothing to announce at this time, although there is “a lot of activity going on between the PPL team and the Blackstone team.”

PPL Corp. already is building generation in Kentucky, where it owns Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU). Just last week, the Kentucky Public Service Commission (KPSC) granted LG&E and KU the authority to construct two new 645-megawatt natural gas combined-cycle units.

Distribution rate increase

Sorgi also touched briefly on PPL Electric’s proposed distribution base rate increase, which is currently under review by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).

If the PUC gives the go-ahead, the increase would add about $13 a month to the bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a month.

PPL has not requested such an increase since 2016. “Over the past 10 years, we’ve been successful in avoiding base rate increases while creating one of the nation’s most sophisticated and efficient grids,” Sorgi said. “In fact, operating and maintenance expenses have increased by only 7.4% nominally since 2015 compared to 32% inflation.”

PPL expects the rate change to take effect in July of 2026.

In the markets

Shares of PPL (NYSE:PPL) stock were trading at $36.37 near the end of the business day Wednesday. That’s near the top of their 52-week range.

Daniel Rich, an analyst from CFRA Research, has a “hold” recommendation on PPL shares. “We see the company’s maintained 6%-8% long-term EPS and dividend growth expectations as highly competitive with peers,” he said.

Of the proposed distribution rate increase, Rich noted that it was “significantly above industry norms,” although he said the lack of such an increase since 2016 may help justify the request.