Milder weather hurts Great Plains Energy’s bottom line

Cooler-than-normal temperatures during the first part of summer hurt Great Plains Energy’s revenue and profits.

The parent company of Kansas City Power & Light on Thursday reported second-quarter operating revenue of $609 million, down from $648.4 million in the same quarter last year.

Net income was $44.4 million for the three months that ended June 30, down from $52.1 million in the second quarter of 2014.

The utility company measures the milder weather in terms of cooling degree days. During the recently completed quarter, Great Plains said cooling degree days were 15 percent below the second quarter of 2014.

Great Plains’ operations were also affected by severe weather in early summer that included “a storm that led to the largest customer outage that we’ve experienced since 2002,” said Terry Bassham, the company’s chairman and CEO.

Also Thursday, the company announced the resignation, effective Sept. 2, of Jim Shay as senior vice president-finance and chief financial officer. Shay, who joined Great Plains in July 2010, is leaving to become executive vice president and chief financial officer for Hallmark Cards.

Shay joins Hallmark on Sept. 8, replacing Tim Griffith, who is retiring at year’s end after 37 years at the company, including eight as chief financial officer.

Great Plains named Kevin Bryant to succeed Shay. Bryant joined the organization in 2003.

This story was originally published August 6, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Milder weather hurts Great Plains Energy’s bottom line."