Westar to
announce site of coal-fired power plant
May 17, 2006 - The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Author(s): Nicholas Jungman
May 17--Westar Energy expects to announce later this year the results
of its site selection process for a new coal-fired power plant in
Kansas, chief executive Jim Haines said Tuesday.
Haines was speaking to the company's annual meeting of shareholders,
held in Wichita for the first time since Kansas Gas & Electric and
Kansas Power & Light merged in 1992 to form what is now Westar. About
120 people were in attendance at the Hyatt Regency Wichita.
Westar hired a consulting firm a year ago to help it evaluate
potential sites within its service territory for new a power plant. The
company anticipates needing additional capacity to meet its base load
within the next decade. Haines said a new power plant could be online by
2015.
In October, Westar agreed to buy a gas-fired power plant in central
Oklahoma from Oneok Inc. to generate additional power at times of peak
demand. Haines said Westar acquired the plant at a substantial discount,
about half the cost of building such a plant.
Looking back at 2005, Haines said Westar had a mixed year. It was
able to lower its costs, largely by refinancing its debts, and won the
ability from state regulators to pass along certain variable costs --
such as the cost of coal -- to ratepayers.
But it lost its bid to raise its base rates for power and its bid to
increase its state-limited returns. That took a toll on the company's
stock price, Haines said.
Still, Haines said, the company is committed to maintaining and
improving its dividend.
The company raised its annual dividend this year to $1 per share,
representing 61 percent to 65 percent of anticipated earnings. Haines
acknowledged that the new dividend is at the low end of the company's
target range of 60 percent to 75 percent of earnings.
In the business portion of the meeting, shareholders overwhelming
re-elected a slate of directors -- chairman Charles Q. Chandler IV, R.A.
Anderson and Sandra A.J. Lawrence -- to three-year terms. They also
ratified the choice of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent
accounting firm.
Reach Nick Jungman at (316) 268-6467 or
njungman@wichitaeagle.com
[mailto:njungman@wichitaeagle.com
].
© Copyright 2006 NetContent, Inc. Duplication and
distribution restricted.Visit http://www.powermarketers.com/index.shtml
for excellent coverage on your energy news front.
|