Staff won’t get in the way of Westar acquisition

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Great Plains-Westar merger can go forward without a complaint from the Public Service Commission Staff.

Staff filed a notice Wednesday that they had negotiated an agreement with Great Plains Energy and Kansas City Power & Light Company and would not be filing a complaint. Great Plains Energy is the holding company of Kansas City Power and Light and Kansas City Power and Light – Greater Missouri Operations.

The door had been left open to a complaint over the summer when Staff said the merger was within the PSC’s purview as a regulatory body to review. Staff also concluded that the details of the merger could lead to a complaint.

Last week, after not hearing anything since that file had been closed, the Public Service Commission asked Staff to issue an update on a potential complaint.

This week, Staff filed their notice of the agreement, saying “the agreement it has negotiated provides important protections and safeguards for Missouri ratepayers and avoids the uncertainty and expense of protracted litigation.”

Westar is the largest power company in Kansas. The filing means that Missouri won’t stand in the way of Kansas City getting its first Fortune 500 company.