Great Plains Energy Inc. (Great Plains Energy) has reported operating revenues of $419.2 million for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the operating revenues of $297.6 million in the year-ago quarter. It has also reported a net income of $21.7 million, or $0.18 per share, for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the net income of $47.5 million, or $0.55 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

First quarter 2009 results included a $16.0 million or $0.13 per share tax benefit from a 2003-04 tax audit settlement at KCP&L Greater Missouri Operations Company (GMO), formerly Aquila, which Great Plains Energy acquired on July 14, 2008. First quarter earnings were in-line with expectations, therefore, the company reaffirms its earnings guidance range for 2009 of $1.10 to $1.40 per share.

Key drivers behind first quarter 2009 earnings compared to 2008 were:

Decreased Electric Utility segment earnings of $9.6 million due to lower retail and wholesale revenue.

Decreased purchased power expense of $6.4 million and a $6.0 million increase in the equity component of AFUDC at Kansas City Power & Light Company (KCP&L).

Increased other segment earnings primarily as a result of GMO’s non-utility operations’ positive earnings contribution of $17.2 million, including a $16.0 million or $0.13 per share tax benefit from a 2003-04 tax audit settlement.

Increased number of shares outstanding primarily from the GMO transaction resulted in $0.07 per share dilution.

In addition, first quarter 2008 earnings included a loss of $13.7 million or $0.16 per share from the mark-to-market impact of interest rate hedges and earnings of $52.9 million or $0.62 per share from the discontinued operations of Strategic Energy. Great Plains Energy sold Strategic Energy in June 2008.

The average number of common shares outstanding for the quarter increased to 119.2 million shares compared with 85.9 million shares for the first quarter of 2008, primarily as a result of the issuance of 32.2 million shares of Great Plains Energy common stock in connection with the GMO acquisition. This caused $0.07 per share of dilution in the quarter. In addition, the company issued 3.8 million common shares through its Sales Agency Financing for Equity program, which had a dilutive impact of less than $0.01 per share in the 2009 quarter.

Great Plains Energy provides in its earnings releases financial information in accordance with GAAP. In prior quarters, the company also provided “core” earnings, a non-GAAP measure that excluded the effects of discontinued operations, certain unusual items and mark-to-market gains and losses on energy contracts. The company believes that in prior periods core earnings provided a meaningful indicator of results that was comparable among periods because it excluded the effects of those items. Given that the financial statement impacts of Strategic Energy ceased at the end of last year, effective as of this quarter the company will no longer provide core earnings.

First Quarter Electric Utility Segment:

The Electric Utility segment consists of KCP&L and GMO’s regulated utility operations. Quarterly earnings for the Electric Utility segment were $7.4 million or $0.06 per share compared to $17.0 million or $0.20 per share in 2008. KCP&L’s 2009 earnings of $8.4 million or $0.07 per common share declined around 50% year-over-year. GMO’s utility operations contributed a loss of $1.0 million or $0.01 per share. The Electric Utility segment results also reflect additional shares outstanding, causing segment dilution of $0.03 per share for the quarter.

KCP&L’s first quarter revenue decreased 7%, or $20.1 million, compared to the prior year period primarily as a result of a $15.8 million or 37% decline in wholesale revenue. The decline in wholesale revenue was driven by average wholesale prices that were 33% below the same period in 2008 and an 18% decrease in MWh sales due primarily to the Iatan 1 outage, which was extended through the end of the quarter. Iatan 1 came back on-line in early April and the unit’s new Air Quality Control System successfully completed its in-service testing on April 19, 2009.

KCP&L’s retail revenue declined 2%, or $4.1 million, in the 2009 quarter compared to last year. This was due primarily to unfavorable weather, with Heating Degree Days 14% lower than in the 2008 quarter. KCP&L’s quarterly retail MWh sales declined 4% compared to 2008; on a weather-normalized basis, quarterly retail MWh sales declined 0.8%. However, this decline was offset by higher average pricing at the lower usage levels.

Positive factors in the quarter for KCP&L include:

The equity component of AFUDC grew $6.0 million over 2008 as the company continued to progress on the Iatan 1 and Iatan 2 construction projects; and

Purchased power expense decreased $6.4 million from 2008 as a result of a 46% decrease in the average price per MWh purchased due to lower natural gas prices. This effect more than offset the 8% increase in MWh purchases resulting from the continued Iatan 1 outage in the first quarter.

The Iatan 1 outage caused KCP&L’s coal plant equivalent availability and capacity factors for the first quarter 2009 to decline to 61% and 56%, respectively, compared to 72% and 68%, respectively, last year. In the first quarter of 2008, coal plant equivalent availability and capacity factors were impacted by unplanned outages resulting in lower than historical performance levels.

Excluding Iatan 1, KCP&L’s coal plant equivalent availability and capacity in the first quarter of 2009 were 75% and 69%, respectively, compared to 67% and 63% in the first quarter of 2008. The Wolf Creek nuclear unit had 100% equivalent availability and capacity factors for the 2009 first quarter, after operating at equivalent availability and capacity factors of 79% and 79%, respectively, in the first quarter 2008 as a result of a planned refueling outage.

The restart of GMO’s Sibley 3 unit after a planned outage to complete environmental upgrades resulted in overall equivalent availability and capacity factors for GMO of 72% and 63%, respectively, in the first quarter. The outage began in late October 2008 and the unit returned to service in mid-February 2009.

Other Segment:

Results for the other segment primarily include unallocated corporate charges and GMO non-regulated operations.

The increased 2009 quarterly earnings are primarily the result of a $16.0 million tax benefit from the GMO 2003-2004 federal tax audit settlement. 2008 earnings also included mark-to-market losses of $13.7 million for forward starting swaps and $7.8 million of GMO transition costs. Positively impacting the 2008 quarter was a $3.4 million release of an accrued legal liability. Additional shares outstanding also caused dilution of $0.04 per share for the quarter.

”The company have had several noteworthy achievements so far in 2009,” commented Mike Chesser, chairman and chief executive officer. “The company successfully brought Iatan 1 back on-line and the unit’s new Air Quality Control System completed its in-service testing, allowing it to be included in the company’s current rate cases. Though Iatan was down during the entire first quarter, the performance of KCP&L’s remaining fossil fleet was much improved over the first quarter last year. Finally, we were very pleased to announce that the company achieved settlements in all of the company’s Missouri rate cases.

“We continue to move forward to implement the initiatives that will shape the company’s success in the years ahead,” continued Chesser. “We believe these positive steps position us to weather the current downturn in the economy and emerge stronger as markets begin to recover.”