[2] Its more than 40 power plants have generating capacity of 16,000 megawatt electricity in Kansas and Missouri.

Service territory covers 28,130 square miles (72,900 km2) in east Kansas and west Missouri.

In November 1881, 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.

[citation needed] 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.

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

[verification needed] In 1999, Western Resources restated its consolidated financial statements for 1999, 1998, and 1997 and for each of the periods of 2000, related to the Westinghouse Security Systems (WSS) acquisition.

[10] On November 1, 2002, Westar Energy announced the restating of results for its first and second quarter, to account for additional impairment at its Protection One Inc. (POI) unit.

On March 25, 2004, Westar Energy restated its 2003 annual financial results, after realizing that it might have understated its cash flow from operations for the year.