Today, we announced third-quarter reported earnings of $0.37 per share.
Third-quarter earnings from ongoing operations were $0.58 per share compared with $0.61 per share a year ago.
I'll note that the lower earnings, compared to last year include $0.02 of lower volumes in the U.K., which will recover in future periods.
And $0.01 due to the timing of our estimated federal income tax computation, which will reverse in Q4.
And in Pennsylvania, during Q3, we reached the $1 million mark for customer outages avoided as a result of our investments in automated power restoration technology.
We've maintained a strong liquidity position of over $4 billion.
As a result, we've narrowed our forecast range to $2.40 to $2.50 per share from the prior range of $2.40 to $2.60 per share.
We expect the provisional ruling will be one that Ofgem studies closely as it nears its decision on the RIIO-2 final determinations for the gas and electric transmission sectors and ultimately for the electric distribution sector.
As we've shared previously, PPL has set a goal to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2050.
In July, the company earned a top score of 100% on the 2020 Disability Equality Index, the nation's most comprehensive annual benchmarking tool for disability inclusion.
First, I would like to highlight that the estimated impact of COVID on our third-quarter results was about $0.04 per share, which was primarily due to lower sales volumes in the U.K. and lower demand revenue in Kentucky.
This is less than the $0.06 impact we experienced during the second quarter, primarily due to the improving electricity demand that Vince mentioned earlier in his remarks.
During the third quarter, we experienced a $0.02 unfavorable variance due to weather compared to the third quarter of 2019, primarily in Kentucky.
Weather in the third quarter of 2020 was about $0.01 favorable overall compared to plan, primarily due to stronger load in Pennsylvania versus normal due to the warmer conditions in July.
In terms of dilution, during the third quarter, we continued to recognize the impact of the November 2019 draw on our equity forward contracts, which resulted in dilution of about $0.03 per share for the quarter.
Excluding these items, our U.K.-regulated segment earnings increased by $0.01 per share compared to a year ago.
earnings results include higher foreign currency exchange rates, compared to the prior period, with Q3 2020 average rates of $1.54 per pound, compared to $1.26 per pound in Q3 2019, and lower interest expense, primarily due to lower interest on index-linked debt.
Segment earnings were $0.02 per share higher than our comparable results in Q3 2019.
Results at corporate and other were $0.01 per share lower compared to a year ago, driven primarily by higher income taxes due to timing, which is expected to reverse in the fourth quarter.
In Pennsylvania, demand improved from about an 11% decline in C&I load in the second quarter to a 4% decline during Q3 compared to a year ago.
Our Kentucky segment reported about a 7% C&I load decline during Q3, compared to the greater than 14% decline we saw last quarter versus the prior year.
Finally, in the U.K., C&I load improved to about a 14% decline in the third quarter, compared to a 20% decline that we experienced last quarter versus a year ago as government restrictions put in place in late March were further eased throughout the month of July.
We experienced a $0.10 per share impact to the end of the third quarter.
The remaining $0.03 is primarily from lower demand in Kentucky, and we have been able to offset the majority of that through effective cost management.

Summary:
Today, we announced third-quarter reported earnings of $0.37 per share.
Third-quarter earnings from ongoing operations were $0.58 per share compared with $0.61 per share a year ago.
As a result, we've narrowed our forecast range to $2.40 to $2.50 per share from the prior range of $2.40 to $2.60 per share.