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Kansas City Power & Light Files Declaratory Judgment Stating Iatan 1 Power Plant In Compliance With Federal Clean Air Act


WEBWIRE

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-- Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L), a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy (NYSE: GXP), announced yesterday that it filed in Federal District Court in Kansas City, Mo. for a declaratory judgment that the operation of KCP&L’s Iatan 1 power plant has been in compliance with the Federal Clean Air Act. For the past year, the Sierra Club alleged Clean Air Act violations at Iatan 1 as part of its appeal of the Iatan 2 air permit. After many months of discovery and shortly before an administrative hearing to consider the allegations was to commence, the Sierra Club announced that it would abandon most of the allegations in its air permit appeal and instead file a lawsuit in federal court containing the same allegations – effectively starting the process all over again.

KCP&L filed the declaratory judgment action to bring the Sierra Club’s allegations before a court. KCP&L believes that it is in full compliance with the Clean Air Act, and that this action is the quickest and best way to finally resolve the issue. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources conducted a thorough review of Iatan’s operation before issuing the Iatan air permit and conducted another independent investigation after issuing the permit, and concluded that KCP&L did not make impermissible modifications to Iatan 1.

KCP&L obtained this week a copy of a grand jury subpoena served on the Sierra Club, seeking documents regarding capital projects at Iatan 1 during the period of 1996 through 2006. KCP&L has not received a subpoena, and has not been contacted by the Environmental Protection Agency or any other agency in relation to this matter. Consequently, KCP&L does not know the nature or scope of any grand jury proceedings.

All of the documents requested by the subpoena will be available for use by the parties in the declaratory judgment action. KCP&L is confident that these documents reflect its compliance with applicable law.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., KCP&L (www.kcpl.com) is a leading regulated provider of electricity in the Midwest. KCP&L is a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Plains Energy Incorporated (NYSE: GXP), the holding company for KCP&L and Strategic Energy L.L.C., a competitive electricity supplier.

Information Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made in this release that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking, may involve risks and uncertainties, and are intended to be as of the date when made. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding projected delivered volumes and margins, the outcome of regulatory proceedings, cost estimates of the comprehensive energy plan and other matters affecting future operations. In connection with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Great Plains Energy is providing a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the provided forward-looking information. These important factors include: future economic conditions in the regional, national and international markets, including but not limited to regional and national wholesale electricity markets; market perception of the energy industry and Great Plains Energy; changes in business strategy, operations or development plans; effects of current or proposed state and federal legislative and regulatory actions or developments, including, but not limited to, deregulation, re-regulation and restructuring of the electric utility industry; decisions of regulators regarding rates its subsidiaries can charge for electricity; adverse changes in applicable laws, regulations, rules, principles or practices governing tax, accounting and environmental matters including, but not limited to, air and water quality; financial market conditions and performance including, but not limited to, changes in interest rates and in availability and cost of capital and the effects on pension plan assets and costs; credit ratings; inflation rates; effectiveness of risk management policies and procedures and the ability of counterparties to satisfy their contractual commitments; impact of terrorist acts; increased competition including, but not limited to, retail choice in the electric utility industry and the entry of new competitors; ability to carry out marketing and sales plans; weather conditions including weather-related damage; cost, availability, quality and deliverability of fuel; ability to achieve generation planning goals and the occurrence and duration of unplanned generation outages; delays in the anticipated in-service dates and cost increases of additional generating capacity; nuclear operations; ability to enter new markets successfully and capitalize on growth opportunities in non-regulated businesses and the effects of competition; application of critical accounting policies, including, but not limited to, those related to derivatives and pension liabilities; workforce risks including compensation and benefits costs; performance of projects undertaken by non-regulated businesses and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; the ability to successfully complete merger, acquisitions or divestiture plans (including the acquisition of Aquila, Inc., and the sale of assets to Black Hills Corporation); and other risks and uncertainties. Other risk factors are detailed from time to time in Great Plains Energy’s most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q or annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This list of factors is not all-inclusive because it is not possible to predict all factors.
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