News Release

For more information contact: Linda Berry, (785) 271-3269 or Samir Arif, (785) 271-3188

May 23, 2017

KCC denies petition for reconsideration in Westar acquisition docket

Topeka - In a unanimous decision this morning, the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) denied the petition for reconsideration filed by Great Plains Energy, Kansas City Power & Light, and Westar Energy seeking additional time to determine whether the parties could agree on a revised transaction proposal to acquire Westar.

The petition was filed on May 5, 2017 in response to a Commission order on April 19, 2017, denying the acquisition on the grounds that the proposed $12.2 billion transaction failed to meet the Commission's merger standards.

In today's order, the Commission ruled that the filing does not meet the legal standard for a petition for reconsideration and ultimately leaves them no choice under Kansas law except to deny the request.

The Commission encouraged the parties to continue to work together to revise the transaction to address the Commission's concerns and welcomes the filing of a new application that can satisfy the merger standards and advance the public interest.

Today's order can be viewed at:
http://estar.kcc.ks.gov/estar/ViewFile.aspx?Id=8951daab-ddb9-4c42-8c22-5c7a538a3d9c.