N🟁N

Great Plains Energy and KCP&L Announce Executive Leadership Changes

  //business-finance.news-articles.net/content/201 .. kcp-l-announce-executive-leadership-changes.html
  Published in Business and Finance on Friday, May 7th 2010 at 3:21 GMT by Market Wire
          ^{🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication}

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Great Plains Energy (NYSE: GXP) and KCP&L, today announced the promotion of Terry Bassham to executive vice president of Utility Operations, effective July 6, 2010. Bassham will succeed John Marshall, who will retire at the end of July. In his new role, Bassham will assume management responsibility for all utility operations, including the Generation and Delivery divisions, as well as Procurement, Human Resources and Facilities.

"One of our core philosophies at KCP&L is to create a balanced management team comprised of strong leadership developed from within and complimented by the best talent recruited externally"

aTerry has been instrumental in formulating and executing the finance strategy behind the largest capital investment plan in KCP&La™s history. His leadership and vision have helped create a platform for attractive earnings growth in the years ahead,a said Mike Chesser, chairman and chief executive officer of KCP&L. aThis position will allow Terry to gain additional operations experience that will prove invaluable as a senior leader in our company.a

Succeeding Bassham will be James Shay, who has been appointed senior vice president of Finance and Strategic Planning and chief financial officer of Great Plains Energy and KCP&L effective July 6, 2010. Shay currently serves as chief financial officer for Northern Power Systems, a wind turbine manufacturing business with operations in North America and Europe. He will oversee the Finance, Strategy and Risk Management, Audit Services, Investor Relations and Accounting functions of the companies.

In his current position at Northern Power Systems, Shay has responsibilities for finance, accounting and information technology. Shay has held several senior finance positions at General Electric Environmental Services, BHA Holdings Group and Frontier Investment Banc prior to joining Northern Power Systems, and brings experience in business development, transaction execution, mergers and acquisitions, human resources and procurement in addition to his finance and accounting expertise. Shay is also a certified public accountant.

aOne of our core philosophies at KCP&L is to create a balanced management team comprised of strong leadership developed from within and complimented by the best talent recruited externally,a said Chesser. aJima™s deep knowledge of the energy industry and his broad range of experience provide him with well-rounded leadership credentials and make him a perfect fit for our senior management team. We are excited to have Jim joining our company.a

KCP&L also named Heather Humphrey senior director of Human Resources and Ellen Fairchild senior director of Investor Relations and assistant corporate secretary, assuming roles currently held by Barbara Curry, senior vice president of Human Resources and corporate secretary. Curry has announced her retirement at the end of May. Michael Cline will add the responsibility of corporate secretary to his current role of vice president of Investor Relations and treasurer. Currently, Humphrey serves as managing attorney in the Law department and Fairchild is director of Investor Relations for KCP&L.

aJohn and Barbara have improved operations and culture in every segment of KCP&L. Their inspired and dedicated leadership has been a critical component in maintaining our strong core utility operations and driving efficiencies throughout our organization. We wish them the very best of luck in their retirement,a said Chesser. aAt the same time we are excited about the next generation of leadership we are developing within our company. With more than three decades of utility experience between them, Heather, Ellen and Michael bring a wealth of talent and broad range of experience into their new positions.a

About The Companies:

Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Great Plains Energy Incorporated (NYSE: GXP) is the holding company of Kansas City Power & Light Company and KCP&L Greater Missouri Operations Company, two of the leading regulated providers of electricity in the Midwest. Kansas City Power & Light and KCP&L Greater Missouri Operations use KCP&L as a brand name. More information about the companies is available on the Internet at: [ www.greatplainsenergy.com ] or [ www.kcpl.com ].

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, 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 and KCP&L are 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 regional, national and international markets and their effects on sales, prices and costs, including but not limited to possible further deterioration in economic conditions and the timing and extent of any economic recovery; prices and availability of electricity in regional and national wholesale markets; market perception of the energy industry, Great Plains Energy and KCP&L 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 the companies 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 credit spreads and in availability and cost of capital and the effects on nuclear decommissioning trust and pension plan assets and costs; impairments of long-lived assets or goodwill; 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, but not limited to, weather-related damage and their effects on sales, prices and costs; cost, availability, quality and deliverability of fuel; ability to achieve generation planning goals and the occurrence and duration of planned and unplanned generation outages; delays in the anticipated in-service dates and cost increases of additional generating capacity and environmental projects; nuclear operations; workforce risks, including, but not limited to, increased costs of retirement, healthcare and benefits; the timing and amount of resulting synergy savings from the GMO acquisition; and other risks and uncertainties.

This list of factors is not all-inclusive because it is not possible to predict all factors. Other risk factors are detailed from time to time in Great Plains Energya™s and KCP&La™s most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q and annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement. Great Plains Energy and KCP&L undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.