KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 7, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- With the Missouri River rising and expected to crest, Aquila today asked for at least 50 employee volunteers to help with sandbagging the area surrounding its Lake Road Power Plant, the surrounding power substations and also to assist the city of St. Joseph's effort to protect its Missouri riverfront area.
The company's Lake Road and Sibley power plants are not expected to be affected by the rising water level of the Missouri River and will continue to operate. However, the Iatan Power Plant in Weston, Mo., which is 18 percent owned by Aquila and operated by KCP&L, is expected to be shutdown. This will require Aquila to rely on alternate resources, including the purchase of additional power, for its Missouri electric operations.
Water is a conductor of electricity, so customers should exercise caution before going into their basement to inspect for flooding. Additional safety tips for storm conditions can be found at various governmental websites, including FEMA and NOAA. In the event a customer experiences an electric service issue, they should phone Aquila's 24-hour service number: 1-800-303-0752.
Aquila provides power to approximately 300,000 customers in Missouri. The company serves approximately 1 million electric and natural gas customers in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Additional information is available at www.aquila.com.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and certain important factors can cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release include:
* The company does not expect its Sibley and Lake Road plants
to be negatively affected by the rising river levels of
the Missouri River. Some important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated include:
* Water levels may increase higher or faster than
anticipated; and
* Additional precipitation could result in higher
water levels that negatively affect the Sibley plant.
* The company expects to purchase replacement power for its
Missouri electric operations as a result of the anticipated
Iatan outage. Some important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those anticipated
include:
* The company may be required to generate higher-cost
gas-fired electricity if sufficient amounts of
replacement power are not available for purchase; and
* The costs of purchasing power to replace the
Iatan-generated power may be significantly higher than
anticipated.