U.S. Department of Energy, Westar sign agreement

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Westar Energy, Inc., announced Tuesday that it has reached agreement with the United States Department of Energy for funding under the Smart Grid Investment Grant program.

Westar will now move forward with its SmartStar Lawrence project, bringing advanced smart grid technology to the Lawrence, Kan. area.

About $40 million in combined funding from the DOE and Westar will complete the project over the next three years. When completed, SmartStar Lawrence will offer customers the opportunity for more insight to their daily electricity use and cost information. Improvements will also be made in the distribution system and in the supporting technical infrastructure, a statement from Westar Energy said.

The DOE grant provides for reimbursement of more than $19 million of the project cost. As part of the program, Westar will report to the DOE on a regular basis the project progress and will be held accountable for achieving project milestones. Reporting is made in a public forum and will be available at www.recovery.gov.

"We are pleased to reach agreement with the Department of Energy," Westar Energy President and CEO Bill Moore said. "We look forward to bringing this new level of energy information to our customers and finding the things that work best to deliver great service in a flexible and environmentally friendly approach. This takes us further down the path of giving customers more accessibility to how they're using electricity and choice. This smart grid technology will also help us better integrate renewable energy and emerging trends, such as electric vehicles."

Smart grid technology is a state-of-the-art approach to managing electricity systems. In the event of a power outage, for example, Westar will more easily determine the cause and restore power more quickly. Customers with smart meters and Internet access will be able to daily monitor how much electricity they use and how much it costs. The funding will allow Westar to implement the technology necessary to eventually support smart meters throughout the company's entire service territory, the Westar statement said.

"We will learn a lot from our experience with SmartStar Lawrence and we will apply what we learn in Lawrence as smart grid technology emerges as a new industry standard. Westar Energy leads the way in Kansas bringing this new, exciting and useful tool to our company and for our customers."

For more information on SmartStar Lawrence, visit www.WestarEnergy.com/smartstar.

Westar Energy, Inc., is the largest electric utility in Kansas, providing electric service to about 684,000 customers in the state.

For more information about Westar Energy, visit http://www.WestarEnergy.com.