Westar Energy

Westar Energy, Inc. announced today that it has filed a request with the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) to increase its base prices about 5.85 percent. Westar says it is seeking to increase its base prices recover the increased costs of providing electric service to customers. “Our customers and our state depend on reliable electric infrastructure. Unfortunately the cost of keeping our system reliable has gone up,” Mark Ruelle, Westar Energy chief executive officer, said.

Wichita will see its first downtown public electric vehicle (EV) charging station open Thursday at 100 N. Broadway. This Westar energy station powers electric vehicles like the Nissan LEAF, Chevy Volt, and Ford Transit. “This is an exciting time for consumers. EV's have the ability to help reduce our dependency on foreign oil by using a fuel we generate right here in Kansas - electricity,” said Jim Ludwig, executive vice president, consumer services and public affairs. “Electric vehicle customers can also achieve 75 percent or greater savings on fuel expenses and reduced greenhouse-gas emissions versus gas-powered vehicles.” The charging station will allow electric vehicle drivers to top off their charge while downtown.

Westar power crews have restored power to all but a handful of 2,300 customers in west Wichita. The lights went out about mid-day Wednesday. ---------------------------- 3:00pm Wednesay More than 2,300 west Wichita residents were without power Wednesday afternoon. Westar Energy tells us it was caused by an equipment failure at a substation. The utility does not expect the outage to last long. One of the effects is the traffic light at Central & Ridge which is not currently working.

More than 200 people told Westar Energy to quit raising electric rates.  They showed up at a public hearing in Wichita Wednesday night. Westar wants to raise rates by an average of $6.44 per customer.  It says the extra money will cover rising costs of operations, new regulations and more tree trimming. But citizens aren't buying it. "Consumer are tapped. At some point we need to figure out the thing we need to do, those we must do and those we can put off for another day," said Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board member David Springe.

Westar Energy has announced earnings for 2011 were $229 million, or $1.95 per share, compared with $203 million, or $1.81 per share, for 2010. Earnings were $19 million, or $0.16 per share, for the fourth quarter 2011 compared with earnings of $5 million, or $0.04 per share, for the fourth quarter 2010. The Board of Directors today declared a quarterly dividend of 33 cents per share payable April 2, 2012 on the company's common stock. The new dividend reflects a 3 percent increase over the company's previous quarterly dividend of 32 cents per share and results in an indicated annual rate of $1.32 per share.

By Roger Cornish (TOPEKA, Kan.) Kansas regulators have approved a $17 million rate increase for the state's largest electric company. The Kansas Corporation Commission says residential customers of Westar Energy Inc. should see an average increase of $1 in their monthly bills, or 1.3 percent. The increase is expected to take effect within a month. The additional revenues will cover costs associated with wind farms in western Kansas and a natural-gas fired plant outside Emporia.

Sedgwick County emergency managers want to remind the public that 911 is for emergencies only. The reminder comes after Wednesday's powerful storm left residents without power...and with damage, debris and flooding. Dispatchers received a surge of calls during the storm, but say most of them turned out to be non-emergeny calls. The Sedgwick County Emergency Communication Department says calls to 911 requesting assistance with fallen tree limbs or power outages and requesting to be transferred to the electrical company do not constitute a personal or public safety hazard.  Officials say, in those cases, residents should contact Westar Energy or their local electric provider.

(COLWICH, Kan.) The city of Colwich is lighting the way towards energy efficiency. Westar Energy kicked off its Colwich Switch Saturday. As part of a pilot project, the company gave 500 homeowners 6 compact florescent light bulbs. It will spend the next 12 months tracking the towns energy consumption. Westar hopes to see a decline. Compact florescent light bulbs use 75% less energy and lasts eight to 15 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Westar says if residents use all six bulbs they receive, they will save about $30 a year and it will help the environment.

Westar Energy says crews from Kansas will head to some of the areas hardest hit by tornadoes. Our news partners at KFDI are in Belle Plaine where several trucks are ready to ship out. A release from the power company says it's sending 41 people, including line personnel, management, safety personnel, material handlers and fleet personnel. Westar contractors are also sending crews to help in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas.  Some of these groups also worked in St. Louis earlier in the week.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The first of four peregrine falcon hatchlings nesting in a downtown Topeka building decided to make its debut on Mother's Day. Brad Loveless, of Westar Energy, says the egg hatched Sunday afternoon in a nest high on the 12-story Westar building. He expects the other three eggs to hatch within days. The birds have attracted attention around the world, thanks to two webcams that can be viewed at www.westarenergy.com/greenteam . But the chicks may be hard to see because their mother, named Hope, has been protective since the eggs were laid between April 1 and 3. A male peregrine falcon, named Zeus, also is in the nest.