By Christen Smith

PPL executives told investors Friday the utility will invest $14 billion over the next five years into hardening its transmission system and incorporating more renewable resources — both in PJM and the U.K.

CEO Bill Spence said during a quarterly earnings call that planned improvements “are aimed at strengthening grid resiliency in the face of worsening storms, incorporating automation, replacing and rebuilding power lines and substations, and reshaping electricity networks to support the growth of renewables and other distributed energy resources.”

The company plans to spend almost $6 billion on its U.K. regulated business, $4 billion in Kentucky (Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities) and about $2 billion each on its distribution and transmission operations in Pennsylvania (PPL Electric Utilities).

The company is investing $1.1 billion in its Pennsylvania operations this year. “The majority of the [Pennsylvania] spend this year remains in our transmission business, which has been the fastest growing business in our portfolio for a number of years now, due to the ongoing needs to upgrade and modernize our transmission system,” said Chief Operating Office Vince Sorgi.

PPL’s fourth-quarter earnings dropped 14% to $364 million. The utility said the decline “primarily reflects special items related to unrealized gains and losses on foreign currency economic hedges.” PPL operates a U.K.-based subsidiary that serves 7.9 million customers.

Sorgi said distribution network investments include smart grid devices, targeted tree-trimming efforts and automated control systems that help reduce the number and duration of power outages in its territory.

The utility also ramped up its environmental goals and aims to cut its carbon emissions 80% over 2010 levels in the next 20 years.

Sorgi said the utility cut its emissions in half with the retirement of 5,200 MW of coal-fired generation in its Pennsylvania and Kentucky service territories. He said additional coal retirements “in the back half” of the decade and in the 2030s will help propel the momentum for renewable integration.

“We are not at a point where renewables can compete on a replacement capacity basis as renewable-plus-storage options are not even competitive,” he said. “With that said, it is clear that these factors are rapidly changing as we move through time, which requires us to continuously assess the most proven strategy that’s in the best interest of our customers, something we’ve always demonstrated.”

[Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify the company’s spending plans and to correct a quote mistakenly attributed to CEO Bill Spence.]