Kansas City Power & Light Files Agreement with Kansas for Long-Term En

Kansas City Power & Light Files Agreement with Kansas for Long-Term Energy Plan; Collaborative Agreement Moves Regional Strategy Forward

    Business Editors

    KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 28, 2005--Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L), a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy (NYSE:GXP), has filed an agreement recommending the approval and implementation of a long-term energy plan with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC). The comprehensive plan contained in the agreement is designed to meet the growing demand by Kansas customers for additional electricity while delivering significant economic and environmental benefits to the Kansas City area.
    The parties to the proceedings who support the agreement include the KCC Staff, Sprint and the Kansas Hospital Association. The KCC is expected to hold hearings prior to its ruling on the agreement. KCP&L, which provides service to approximately 500,000 customers in eastern Kansas and western Missouri, previously filed a substantially similar agreement with the Missouri Public Service Commission on March 28.
    "Today's filing is another important step in our regional strategy to provide reliable, clean, low-cost electricity while protecting the customer from the high cost and volatility of natural gas-based generation," said KCP&L President and CEO William Downey.
    Key benefits of the agreements filed with the Kansas and Missouri commissions include:

--	A long-term plan for affordable electricity -- avoiding increased reliance on high-cost, volatile fuels for generation by adding 500 megawatts of new high-efficiency coal-powered generation located in Missouri and 100 megawatts of wind-powered generation in Kansas, with the potential to add an additional 100 megawatts of wind capacity at a future date;
--	Investment in the local economy -- adding jobs in the region. During the four years it will take to build the new coal plant, up to 1,000 jobs will be created at the peak of the construction activity, plus 50 to 100 permanent positions once the plant is finished. That translates into approximately $300 million in direct payroll over the four-year period for the Kansas City region, as well as significant tax revenues;
--	Improved air quality in the Kansas City area -- taking a leadership role in keeping the Kansas City area's air clean by investing approximately $280 million in technologies to substantially reduce certain air emissions at existing power plants. The plan would ensure KCP&L meets or exceeds existing and anticipated federal air quality standards. The environmental initiatives outlined in the agreement also are included in A Clean Air Action Plan For the Kansas City Region developed by the Mid-America Regional Council, which is leading the effort to reduce ground-level ozone-forming emissions in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The first plant slated for emission control equipment under the plan is Unit #1 at La Cygne, Kansas.
--	Top tier reliability -- constructing, replacing and/or upgrading existing transmission and distribution facilities to accommodate new generation, and incorporating new technologies for faster diagnosis and repair of service interruptions;
--	Partnerships with customers to save energy and money -- implementing proposed affordability, efficiency and demand response programs that leverage new technologies, working with customers to more effectively use electricity and manage their energy costs; and
--	Regulatory authority -- supporting the investment plan and maintaining key credit ratios through future rate increases, the treatment of certain revenue and expense items and a mechanism to better match revenue with the cost of fuel and purchased power.

    Downey continued: "We are very pleased with the level of community support and collaboration during the past year. Participants helped in identifying the issues and shaping the plan, which was much more productive than the traditional process. It has been a very inclusive process and the level of involvement has resulted in a much stronger plan."

    Addressing the Growing Need for More Electricity

    According to forecasts developed by KCP&L, the demand for electricity in the Kansas City area is anticipated to grow approximately 2% annually over the next 10 years. More generation capacity will be needed in the region. The plan's new generation facilities will add 15% to KCP&L's current generation capacity.
    Because the availability of reliable, affordable energy is a key factor in business expansion and relocation, the plan is expected to make the Kansas City area an even more attractive place to live and do business. The plan has been endorsed by numerous local economic development agencies and chambers of commerce including the Overland Park, Shawnee, Northeast Johnson County and Olathe Chambers of Commerce, as well as the Kansas City Area Development Council.

    Regulatory Authority Supporting the Plan

    KCP&L anticipates that the agreements, if approved by Kansas and Missouri regulatory commissions, will result in the expenditure of approximately $1.3 billion over the next five years. The agreements recognize that KCP&L will make major investments in infrastructure and environmental improvements, requiring the company to increase both debt and equity. The agreements give KCP&L regulatory mechanisms to be able to recover the prudent costs of its investments as they enter service and to maintain necessary credit quality over the five-year term of the agreements.
    Current rates will remain in place until 2007, unless significant events impact KCP&L. The first rate case will be filed in 2006, with any rate adjustments going into effect for customers in 2007. The last rate case defined in the agreements is expected to be filed in 2009, with rates effective around the time the coal plant goes into service. Two additional rate cases could be filed in 2007 and 2008.
    The Kansas agreement allows KCP&L to recover -- on a dollar-for-dollar basis with no profit to the company -- fuel and purchased power expense through an energy charge that would take effect for Kansas in 2007. A similar interim energy charge, based on forecasted costs and subject to refund, would take effect for Missouri customers, also in 2007. The agreements allow KCP&L to sell emission allowances and authorizes regulatory treatment of certain revenue and expense items, including pension expenses, designed to support the investment in the plan and the company's credit quality.
    The actual amount of costs to be recovered through rates will be determined by the state commissions in these rate cases. KCP&L projects that, if the entire $1.3 billion anticipated cost of the plan is included in rate base, the rate increases to support the five year energy plan and projected increases in operating costs would average approximately 3-4% annually, over the same period.

    Great Plains Energy Incorporated (NYSE:GXP), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is the holding company for Kansas City Power & Light Company, a leading regulated provider of electricity in Kansas and Missouri, and Strategic Energy LLC, a competitive electricity supplier. The Company's web site is www.greatplainsenergy.com.

    Certain Forward-Looking Information -- Statements made in this release that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking, may involve risks and uncertainties, and are intended to be as of the date when made. In connection with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Company is providing a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the provided forward-looking information. These important factors include: future economic conditions in the regional, national and international markets, including, but not limited to, regional and national wholesale electricity markets; market perception of the energy industry and the Company; changes in business strategy, operations or development plans; effects of current or proposed state and federal legislative and regulatory actions or developments, including, but not limited to, deregulation, re-regulation and restructuring of the electric utility industry and constraints placed on the Company's actions by the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935; adverse changes in applicable laws, regulations, rules, principles or practices governing tax, accounting and environmental matters including, but not limited to, air quality; financial market conditions and performance including, but not limited to, changes in interest rates and in availability and cost of capital and the effects on the Company's pension plan assets and costs; credit ratings; inflation rates; effectiveness of risk management policies and procedures and the ability of counterparties to satisfy their contractual commitments; impact of terrorist acts; increased competition including, but not limited to, retail choice in the electric utility industry and the entry of new competitors; ability to carry out marketing and sales plans; weather conditions including weather-related damage; cost, availability and deliverability of fuel; ability to achieve generation planning goals and the occurrence of unplanned generation outages; delays in the anticipated in-service dates of additional generating capacity; nuclear operations; ability to enter new markets successfully and capitalize on growth opportunities in non-regulated businesses; performance of projects undertaken by the Company's non-regulated businesses and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; and other risks and uncertainties. This list of factors is not all-inclusive because it is not possible to predict all factors.

--30--CA/se*

CONTACT: For Kansas City Power & Light Media: Tom Robinson, 816-556-2902 or Investors: Todd Kobayashi, 816-556-2312

KEYWORD: MISSOURI KANSAS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OIL/GAS ENERGY BANKING UTILITIES SOURCE: Kansas City Power & Light

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