Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
This company profile includes evidence of climate policy engagement by Western Power Distribution (WPD), which was PPL’s UK utility business before it was sold to National Grid in June 2021. In May 2022, PPL completed its acquisition of The Narragansett Electric Company from National Grid, which is now known as Rhode Island Energy.
Climate Policy Engagement Overview PPL Corporation (PPL) exhibits policy engagement that is broadly misaligned with policy pathways for delivering the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. The company appears to engage with mostly negative positions on US climate policy, with evidence of advocacy at the federal levels and across several states including Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. PPL and its subsidiaries advocate for a long-term role for fossil gas and strategically opposed the Biden administration’s decarbonization proposals, including the power plant carbon standards. The company serves on the 2025 board for American Gas Association, which strategically obstructs US climate policy while promoting fossil gas expansion.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: PPL demonstrates limited top-line messaging on climate policy. In a September 2024 press release, CEO Vincent Sorgi supported a climate neutral economy by 2050. In PPL’s July 2022 Climate Policy Principles document, which has not been since updated, the company did not appear to fully support the need for climate change policy. PPL does not appear to take a clear position on the Paris Agreement in recent years.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: PPL appears to engage on US climate-related policy with a mix of positive and negative positions. At the federal level, the company submitted March 2023 comments in support of the Biden administration’s target of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. However, days before the Trump administration took office, PPL signed a January 2025 joint letter to current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin that advocated for a review or repeal of existing power sector emissions standards, including those addressing ozone emissions. PPL similarly appears to take a range of positions on state-level climate policy. In Rhode Island, subsidiary Rhode Island Energy (RIE) submitted several pieces of testimony against solar energy legislation, including March 2023 testimony against a bill proposing to expand the state’s net metering program. More recently, in a February 2025 opinion article published in the Providence Journal, REI appeared to emphasize cost and administrative concerns with implementing the state’s renewable energy programs. In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, PPL submitted January 2025 testimony to the Public Utility Commission (PUC) that appeared to advocate for energy efficiency targets to address the state’s resource adequacy concerns.
Positioning on Energy Transition: PPL takes mostly negative positions on the energy transition and strategically advocates for fossil gas infrastructure. CEO Sorgi has been vocal around the need for fossil gas, including in the May/June 2022 issue of Edison Electric Institute’s magazine, in which he stated that “natural gas infrastructure will have a clear role to play in the net-zero economy.” Sorgi also issued a July 2025 press release that advocated for Pennsylvania legislative measures to facilitate the construction of new fossil gas infrastructure. At the federal level, PPL and its subsidiaries strategically opposed the Biden administration’s power plant carbon standards across the 2022-2025 time period: this includes the January 2025 letter to EPA Administrator Zeldin requesting a review of the standards, an August 2024 legal challenge via the ad hoc coalition Electric Generators for a Sensible Transition, May 2024 individual and several joint comments opposing any stringent regulation of gas-fired power plants, and August 2023 individual comments and at least four other coalition comments against the official proposal.
PPL also advocates for fossil gas infrastructure at the state level. In Rhode Island, subsidiary RIE submitted October 2022 comments on the Future of Gas regulatory docket that appeared to emphasize concerns with phasing out fossil gas, particularly in the building sector. This was followed by February 2025 testimony against the Clean Heat Standards Act and March 2025 testimony against the Building Decarbonization Act of 2025. In Pennsylvania, PPL submitted January 2025 comments to the state PUC advocating for measures to facilitate the buildout of new fossil gas infrastructure.
Industry Association Governance: PPL discloses its industry associations in its industry associations review published in March 2023, however it provides limited detail on each group's climate policy engagement activities. According to its review, CEO Sorgi served as the co-chair of the State Policy CEO Committee for Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which continues to strategically advocate for the long-term role for fossil gas, however it is unclear if the company retains committee or board positions in 2025. PPL sits on the 2025 Board of Directors for the American Gas Association (AGA), which obstructs US climate policy and advocates for fossil gas infrastructure.
A detailed assessment of the company's corporate review on climate policy engagement can be found on InfluenceMap's CA100+ Investor Hub here.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2025.