ALLENTOWN, Pa., May 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- PPL Corporation
(NYSE: PPL) announced Wednesday (5/6) that Robert J. Grey, the company's executive vice
president, general counsel and secretary, plans to retire on
Jan. 31, 2016.
The company also announced that it is naming Joanne H. Raphael, a 27-year veteran of the
company, as its senior vice president, general counsel and
corporate secretary. Grey, who will serve as the company's
executive vice president and Chief Legal Officer until his
retirement, has been PPL's general counsel for two decades.
"Bob Grey has been an
indispensable member of PPL's executive team, providing superb
insight as well as legal counsel as we have grown the company from
a regional utility into one of the largest companies in the U.S.
utility sector," said William H.
Spence, PPL's chairman, president and Chief Executive
Officer. "Bob has provided exceptional leadership in all the
company's major strategic initiatives over the past 20 years, from
the deregulation of the utility business in Pennsylvania, to the acquisition of utilities
in the United Kingdom and
Kentucky, to the current spinoff
of PPL's competitive energy supply business.
"We understand Bob's desire to move on to the next chapter of
his life, but the board and I are very pleased that Bob will be
staying on to continue to advise us on the completion of the energy
supply spinoff and on the post-spin transition in our legal
department," said Spence.
"While we will continue to have the benefit of Bob's counsel as
Chief Legal Officer into early 2016, we want to take this
opportunity to thank him for his extraordinary contributions to
PPL's success," said Spence.
"We are very fortunate to have someone with Joanne's legal
background and extensive company knowledge and experience ready to
step into this important role," said Spence. "Joanne also has
played essential roles in the expansion of the company, first in
the legal department and then through her excellent leadership of
PPL's government relations and communications functions."
The company is spinning off its PPL Energy Supply business,
which will be combined with Riverstone Holdings LLC's competitive
generation business to form a new publicly traded company called
Talen Energy Corporation.
The new legal appointments are effective June 1, the expected closing date of the Talen
transaction.
Raphael, PPL's senior vice president and Chief External Affairs
Officer, has led the company's government relations and
communications functions since 1998. She joined PPL in 1988 as an
attorney in the Office of General Counsel and served in various
legal department roles, including deputy general counsel, before
being named to her External Affairs role. Prior to joining PPL,
Raphael was an associate in the Philadelphia office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
She serves on the boards of Team Pennsylvania Foundation, the
Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvanians
for Effective Government's Political Action Committee and the
United Way of the Greater Lehigh
Valley.
A Pennsylvania native, Raphael
earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from
Wellesley College and a law degree from
Stanford Law School, where she
served as note editor of the Stanford Law Review.
Grey joined PPL as vice president, general counsel and secretary
in 1995 and was promoted to senior vice president in 1996. He was
named to his current position in 2012.
Prior to his work at PPL, Grey was general counsel for Long
Island Lighting Co. Before that he was a partner with the law firm
of Preston Gates & Ellis (now
K&L Gates LLC) in Seattle,
Wash., and Portland, Ore.
His experience also includes several years as a staff counsel for
the New York Public Service Commission and service as an attorney
for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Grey is a member of the Edison Electric Institute Legal
Committee and a member of the American Bar Association, where he
serves on the Council Group of the Public Utility, Communications
and Transportation Law Section. He serves on the board of directors
of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center (an affiliate of the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce) and serves on the Columbia Law School adjunct
faculty as a lecturer in law.
A native of Westbury, Long Island, Grey earned a bachelor's
degree from Columbia University, a law
degree from Emory University, and a
master of laws degree in taxation from George
Washington University.
PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), with 2014 revenues of $11.5 billion, is one of the largest companies in
the U.S. utility sector. The PPL family of companies delivers
electricity and natural gas to about 10 million customers in
the United States and United Kingdom. In June
2014, PPL announced an agreement to combine its competitive
generation business with the competitive generation business of
Riverstone Holdings LLC to form Talen Energy Corporation, an
independent power producer. More information is available at
www.pplweb.com.
Note to Editors: Visit our media website at
www.pplnewsroom.com for additional news and background about PPL
Corporation.
Contact:
Ryan Hill, 610-774-5997
PPL Corporation
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150506/214197
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ppls-longtime-general-counsel-to-retire-next-january-joanne-raphael-named-general-counsel-and-corporate-secretary-300078582.html
SOURCE PPL Corporation