ALLENTOWN - Lower wholesale energy prices make it likely that PPL Electric Utilities customers will experience a smaller than anticipated 2010 price increase.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved the results of the company’s fifth round of purchases for residential and small-business customers who do not choose their own supplier. Average prices for residential supply purchases were 19 percent lower than the average price achieved in the first four rounds.

If prices in the last round of purchases, scheduled for this October, match the lower prices received in this round, the company estimates the average residential customer bill would increase by 30.4 percent in 2010. This is down from the previous estimate of 36.1 percent, which was based on the average of the first four rounds.

“These results reinforce the fact that electricity prices rise and fall in a competitive market,” said David G. DeCampli, president of PPL Electric Utilities. “By completing our purchases over a three-year period, we have been able to reduce the risk of price spikes for our customers and blend prices from a diverse group of suppliers.”

PPL Electric Utilities also has reduced the estimated increase for its business customers based on the results of the fifth round of purchases.

Customers of PPL Electric Utilities have few competitive options for electricity supply today because the company’s generation charge remains under a price cap that was established more than a decade ago.