EXHIBIT 10.P EXECUTIVE OPTIONAL DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN OF KU ENERGY CORPORATION January 1993 -45- EXECUTIVE OPTIONAL DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN OF KU ENERGY CORPORATION ARTICLE I - PLAN This Plan is an unfunded Deferred Compensation arrangement for a select group of management or highly compensated employees who are rendering service to the Employer. ARTICLE II - DEFINITIONS For purposes of the Plan, the following definitions shall control: 2.1 "Annual Performance Incentive Plan" -- The annual incentive plan(s) sponsored by the Company as amended from time to time. 2.2 "Beneficiary" -- Any person or persons designated by the Executive to receive amounts payable in accordance with this Plan in the event of the Executive's death. If no Beneficiary has been designated or if no -46- designated Beneficiary shall survive the Executive, the Executive's Beneficiary shall be deemed to be his estate. 2.3 "Committee" -- The Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company. 2.4 "Company" -- KU Energy Corporation, and successors thereto. 2.5 "Death" -- Death from any cause. 2.6 "Deferred Compensation" -- The portion of a Partici- pant's annual incentive award (if any) which may be paid to the Participant under the Company's Annual Performance Incentive Plan(s) that has been deferred to this Plan. 2.7 "Deferred Compensation Account(s)" or "Account(s)" -- The accounts that may be established each year by the Employer as a book reserve for each of its Participants to which shall be credited the sum of the Participant's Deferred Compensation for that year plus any earnings credited thereafter in accordance with Article VI. 2.8 "Deferral Election Form" -- The form made available - 47 - annually by the Committee to an Executive which, when properly executed by the Executive, effects his participation in the Plan for the next following Performance Cycle. A copy of the Deferral Election Form is attached hereto as Exhibit A and is made a part hereof. 2.9 "Disability" -- A physical or mental condition arising after the effective date of this Plan which prevents a Participant from engaging in any occupation or employment for remuneration or profit, except for the purpose of rehabilitation not incompatible with such findings. The determination shall be made (i) on medical evidence by a licensed physician assigned by the Committee, or (ii) on evidence that the Partici- pant is eligible for disability benefits under the Social Security Act in effect at the date of disability. Disability shall exclude disabilities arising from (a) intentionally self-inflicted injury or self-induced illness; or (b) a proven unlawful act or enterprise on the part of the Participant. 2.10 "Employer" -- The Company and any subsidiary or affiliated entity to which the Plan is extended by the Board of Directors of the Company and which adopts the Plan. - 48 - 2.11 "Executive" -- Any management or highly compensated employee of an Employer who is deemed by the Committee to be eligible for participation in this Plan. 2.12 "Participant" -- Any employee designated as an Executive who elects to participate in the Plan according to Article IV or a person who was such at the time of his Retirement, Death, Disability or Termination of Service and who retains, or whose Beneficiary obtains, a benefit under the Plan which has not been forfeited or distributed. 2.13 "Performance Cycle" -- The period of time during which the value of an award under the Company's Annual Performance Incentive Plan is determined. 2.14 "Plan" -- The Executive Optional Deferred Compensation Plan of KU Energy Corporation as described in this instrument, effective January 1, 1993, and, as may be amended, thereafter. 2.15 "Return on Capital" -- The result of dividing the Company's net income before interest charges by the Company's total capitalization as both are reported on the Company's financial statements. - 49 - 2.16 "Termination of Service" -- The termination for any reason of a Participant's employment as a regular employee of the Employer and the members of any controlled group of corporations (as defined in Section 414(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (the 'Code')) of which the Employer is a member, the members of any group of trades or businesses which are under common control (as defined in Section 414(c) of the Code) of which the Employer is a member, the members of any affiliated service group (as defined in Section 414(m) of the Code) of which the Employer is a member, and all other organizations deemed to be affiliated with the Employer under Section 414(o) of the Code. ARTICLE III - ADMINISTRATION OF THE PLAN The Plan will be administered by the Committee. The Committee is authorized to interpret the Plan and to establish and amend rules and regulations necessary for Plan administration. Decisions of the Committee shall be binding on all persons claiming rights under the Plan. The Committee may employ such counsel (who may be counsel for any Employer), consultants and/or agents and may arrange for such services as it may determine to be necessary or appropriate in the administration - 50 - of the Plan. All expenses incurred by the Committee in administering the Plan shall be paid by the Employers. ARTICLE IV - PARTICIPANTS 4.1 Any Executive may elect to have all or any portion of his award under the Company's Annual Performance Incentive Plan deferred and credited with earnings in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Plan. 4.2 An Executive desiring to exercise such election under Paragraph 4.1 shall notify the Committee each time he wishes to exercise a deferral election. Such notice must be in writing, on a Deferral Election Form provided by the Committee, and delivered to the Committee not later than the December 31st preceding the start of a new Performance Cycle. In the case of the 1993 Performance Cycle only, an Executive may deliver such notice to the Committee by March 17, 1993. In addition, if an Executive becomes a participant in the Company's Annual Performance Incentive Plan for a Performance Cycle as of a date other than January 1st, that Executive may deliver such notice to the Committee within 30 days of the date as of which that Executive becomes a participant in the Annual Performance - 51 - Incentive Plan. Once delivered to the Committee, a deferral election as made on a Deferral Election Form shall be irrevocable. 4.3 The amount of a Participant's Deferred Compensation shall be credited to his Deferred Compensation Account at the time such amount would have otherwise been paid to him under the Company's Annual Performance Incentive Plan but for his deferral election under the Plan. 4.4 No Participant or his designated Beneficiary shall acquire any property interest in his Deferred Compensation Account or any other assets of the Employer, their rights being limited to receiving from the Employer deferred payments as set forth in this Plan and these rights are conditioned upon continued compliance with the terms and conditions of this Plan. To the extent, that any Participant or Beneficiary acquires a right to receive benefits under this Plan, such right shall be no greater than the right of any unsecured general creditor of the Employer. - 52 - ARTICLE V - CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE PLAN A Participant shall not actively participate in the Plan for any Performance Cycle for which a Deferral Election Form has not been timely executed and filed as provided by Paragraph 4.2 herein. In this event, such a Participant's Deferred Compensation Account(s) shall continue to be subject to the provisions of the Plan and all previously submitted Deferral Election Forms. For subsequent Performance Cycles, an Executive may again actively participate hereunder by submitting the appropriate Deferral Election Form in accordance with the provisions of Article IV hereunder. ARTICLE VI - CREDITING OF EARNINGS Each calendar quarter each Participant's Deferred Compensation Account will be credited with earnings in addition to any amounts credited to such account under Article IV of this Plan. Such earnings shall be equal to the interest that would have been earned during such calendar quarter on the average of the balances of the Participant's account at the end of each calendar month during such calendar quarter at a rate per annum equal to the greater of (1) the Company's Return on Capital for the twelve-month period that ends coincident with that quarter or (2) the 13 week Treasury bill rate as reported in the Wall Street Journal on the first business day coinciding with or next following the end of that calendar quarter. - 53 - ARTICLE VII - DISTRIBUTION OF AMOUNTS DEFERRED UNDER THE PLAN All payments for the Plan will be made in cash. The Partici- pant will receive payments from the Plan in accordance with the Deferral Election Form(s) on file. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the remaining balance of a Participant's Deferred Compensation Account will be paid in a lump sum as soon as practical after a Participant's Termination of Service or if a change of control occurs as described in Article XI. ARTICLE VIII - DEATH 8.1 At the time that an Executive becomes a Participant, he shall designate in writing a Beneficiary to receive any payments to which he would have been entitled under the terms of this Plan. The Beneficiary referred to in this paragraph may be designated or changed by the Executive (without the consent of any prior Beneficiary) on a form provided by the Committee and delivered to the Committee before his Death. If no such Beneficiary shall have been designated, or if no designated Beneficiary shall survive the Executive, payments shall be payable to the Executive's estate. - 54 - 8.2 If the Executive's employment is terminated because of Death or if the Executive should die after his Termination of Service but before his Deferred Compensation Account balance has been paid, then the Employer shall make payments of the Executive's remaining balance in his Deferred Compensation Account to his designated Beneficiary in the same manner and to the extent as provided in Article VII. 8.3 If after the Executive's Death, all of his designated Beneficiary(ies) should die before all payments are made by the Employer, then the value of the remaining payments shall be paid as promptly as possible in one lump sum to the estate of the last to die of such designated Beneficiary(ies). ARTICLE IX - DISABILITY If the Executive's employment is terminated because of Disability, then the Employer shall make payments to the Executive in the same manner and to the same extent as provided in Article VII. - 55 - ARTICLE X - INCAPACITY If the Committee shall find that any person to whom any payment is payable under this Plan is unable to care for his affairs because of illness or accident, or is a minor, any payment due (unless a prior claim therefore shall have been made by a duly appointed guardian, committee or legal representative) may be paid to the spouse, a child, a parent, a brother or a sister or to any person deemed by the Committee in such a manner as the Committee shall determine. For all determinations made by the Committee under this Article, the Committee shall have full acquittance. Any such payment shall be a complete discharge of the liabilities of the Employer under this agreement. ARTICLE XI - CHANGE IN CONTROL A "change in control" for purposes of the Plan shall have occurred if at any time any of the following events shall occur: a) The Company or KU (as defined below) is merged or consolidated or reorganized into or with another corporation or other legal person, and as a result of such merger, consolidation, or reorganization less than a majority of the combined voting power - 56 - of the then-outstanding securities of such corporation or person immediately after such transaction is held in the aggregate by the holders of the then-outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors (the "Voting Stock") of the Company immediately prior to such transaction; b) The Company or KU sells or otherwise transfers all or substantially all of its assets to any other corporation or other legal entity, and as a result of such sale or transfer less than a majority of the combined voting power of the then-outstanding securities of such other corporation or entity immediately after such sale or transfer is held in the aggregate by the holders of Voting Stock of the Company immediately prior to such sale or transfer; c) There is a report filed on Schedule 13D or Schedule 14D-1 (or any successor schedule, form or report or item therein), each as promulgated pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), disclosing that any person (as the term "person" is used in Section 13(d)(3) or Section 14(d)(2) of the - 57 - Exchange Act) has become the beneficial owner (as the term "beneficial owner" is defined under Rule 13d-3 or any successor rule or regulation promulgated under the Exchange Act) of securities representing 10% or more of the combined voting power of the Voting Stock of the Company or the Voting Stock of KU; d) The Company or KU files a report or proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Exchange Act disclosing in response to Form 8-K or Schedule 14A (or any successor schedule, form or report or item therein) that a change in control of the Company or KU has or may have occurred or will or may occur in the future pursuant to any then-existing contract or transaction; or e) If at any time during any period of two consecutive years, individuals who at the beginning of any such period constitute the directors of the Company or KU cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority thereof, unless the election, or the nomination for election by such company's stockholders, of each director of such company first elected during such - 58 - period was approved by a vote of at least two- thirds of the directors of such company then still in office who were directors of such company at the beginning of any such period. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of paragraph (c) or (d) above, unless otherwise determined in a specific case by majority vote of the Board of Directors of the Company and KU, a "change in control" shall not be deemed to have occurred for purposes of the Plan solely because (i) the Company, (ii) an entity in which the Company, KU or one or more other Subsidiaries directly or indirectly beneficially owns 50% or more of the voting securities (a "Subsidiary"), or (iii) any Company-sponsored, KU-sponsored, or Subsidiary-sponsored employee stock ownership plan or any other employee benefit plan of the Company, KU or Subsidiary, either files or becomes obligated to file a report or a proxy statement under or in response to Schedule 13D, Schedule 14D-1, Form 8-K or Schedule 14A (or any successor schedule, form or report or item therein) under the Exchange Act, disclosing beneficial ownership by it of shares of Voting Stock of the Company or KU, whether in excess of 10% or otherwise, or because the Company, KU or a Subsidiary reports that a change in control of the Company or KU has or may have occurred or will or may occur in the future by reason of such beneficial ownership. Notwith- standing the foregoing provisions of this Article XI, a "change - 59 - in control" shall not be deemed to have occurred by reason of the Reorganization. For purposes of this Article XI: "KU" shall mean Kentucky Utilities Company. "Reorganization" shall mean the corporate reorgani- zation whereby the Company became the holding company of KU as approved by the Board of Directors of KU on May 16, 1988 and May 27, 1988. ARTICLE XII - AMENDMENT OF PLAN The Plan may be amended in whole or in part from time to time by the Company. Notice of every such amendment shall be given in writing to each Participant and Beneficiary of a deceased Participant. ARTICLE XIII - MISCELLANEOUS 13.1 Neither this Agreement, nor any action of the Employer or Committee, nor any election to defer Compensation hereunder shall be construed to confer on any person any legal right to be continued as an employee of the Employer. - 60 - 13.2 Except as required by law, no right of the Executive or Beneficiary to receive payments under this Plan shall be subject to anticipation, commutation, alienation, sale, assignment, encumbrance, charge, pledge, or hypothecation or to execution, attachment, levy or similar process or assignment by operation of law and any attempt, voluntary or involuntary, to effect any such action shall be null and void and of no effect. 13.3 The Employer shall have the right to deduct from all payments any taxes required by law to be withheld with respect to any payments made under this Plan. 13.4 Masculine pronouns used herein shall refer to men or women or both, and nouns when stated in the singular shall include the plural and when stated in the plural shall include the singular wherever appropriate. 13.5 This Plan shall be construed under the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. - 61 - IN WITNESS THEREOF, the Company has caused this Plan to be executed by its duly authorized officers as of this 19th day of February, 1993. WITNESSES: KU ENERGY CORPORATION /s/ Janice Houp By: /s/ John T. Newton President /s/ Nora Bentley Attest: /s/ George S. Brooks II Secretary (SEAL) - 62 - EXHIBIT A EXECUTIVE OPTIONAL DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN OF KU ENERGY CORPORATION DEFERRAL ELECTION FORM This election is in accordance with the provisions of the Executive Optional Deferred Compensation Plan (the Plan) of KU Energy Corporation (the Company) and is made this ______ day of _________________, 19_____, by __________________________ (the Executive). By making such election, I understand and agree that I become a party to said Plan, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. I further understand that this election is irrevocable. In accordance with the provisions of the Plan I hereby elect to defer for the Performance Cycle commencing on January 1, 19____ and maturing on December 31, 19____ the following amount of compensation that may be payable to me under the Company's Annual Performance Incentive Plan for services rendered during that Performance Cycle. The lessor of ________% of any incentive payment or $_________. -63- I understand that this election will remain in effect only for the above indicated Performance Cycle and that a new Deferral Election Form must be completed for each other Performance Cycle that I wish to participate in the Plan. I further elect that the value of my Deferred Compensation Account for the above indicated Performance Cycle be payable to me on the first day of ______________, 19____. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my hand as of the date first above written. ______________________________ ______________________________ (Witness) (Executive) Received and accepted on behalf of the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of KU Energy Corporation. KU ENERGY CORPORATION Dated _______________________ By ___________________________ -64-