Westar Energy history

Western Resources' third operating group, Gas Service, was established in August 1925 by Henry L. Doherty.

In 1927 KPL acquired the Kansas Public Service Company, which encompassed all the utilities in Topeka and Atchison, Kansas.

In 1948 American Power and Light, the holding company for KG&E, sold 150,000 shares of company stock to the public.

In 1954 the Murray Gill Station began operations with a 124,000 kilowatt capacity; it was the company's first use of natural gas as the primary fuel for a utility plant.

By 1959, KPL was providing electricity and natural gas to flour mills, chemical companies, oil refineries, iron and steel manufacturers, cement firms, and clothing stores.

In 1965 the company began work on the first 345 kilovolt electrical transmission line in the state of Kansas.

1966: The KCP&L customer base had grown to over 280,000.

By the time Gas Service was acquired by KPL in 1983, the company served over one million customers in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. (The company's Nebraska interests were later sold.)

On February 5, 1992, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the merger application.

By 1993, management had fully integrated the merger between KG&E and KPL, and located its corporate office in Topeka, Kansas.

Criticism was sharply focused on David Wittig, under whose leadership, which began in 1996, the company had declined steadily.

In March 1998, in what appeared to be the final chapter of this saga, Western Resources and Kansas City Power and Light (KCPL) reached their own merger agreement.

Though regulators seemed willing to grant their approval under certain conditions, KCPL terminated the merger agreement late in 1999.

2001: Western Resources changes its name to Westar Energy, Inc.