Kansas City Power and Light Company

The company traces its roots to November 1881 when Joseph S. Chick obtained the exclusive rights to use the Thompson-Houston arc lighting system in the counties of Jackson, Missouri, and Wyandotte, Kansas, for $4,000.

Construction was begun in February 1882 on a power plant on a tract of land at the southeast corner of 8th and Santa Fe Streets in the West Bottoms.

[1] Weeks spun off the Edison Electric Light & Power Company to meet residential demand.

Under Armour the company bought competitors and built a new power plant in 1903, providing steam heat to downtown businesses.

Assured of a strong financial base, Porter ordered the construction of the 32- story Kansas City Power and Light Building in 1931.

It was part of a consortium that built Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Burlington, Kansas.

The art deco Kansas City Power and Light Building was the former headquarters of the company and was the tallest building west of the Mississippi until 1942, tallest in Missouri until 1976 and tallest in Kansas City until 1986 and is the namesake of the downtown Kansas City Power & Light District
Barack Obama in front a KCP&L truck on July 8, 2010, at the Smith Electric Vehicles plant at Kansas City International Airport . KCP&L has bought a fleet of electric powered trucks from the company.