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Aquila, Inc.

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Aquila, Inc.
Company typePublic (formerly)
IndustryElectricity and natural gas distribution
PredecessorUtiliCorp United, Inc.
Founded1902
FounderLemuel K. Green
Defunct2008
FateMerged into Great Plains Energy; electric and gas utilities sold to Black Hills Corporation and others
Headquarters
Kansas City
,
United States
Area served
Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, and other regions in the US; operations also in UK, New Zealand, Australia (historically)
ProductsElectricity distribution, natural gas distribution, power generation
ParentGreat Plains Energy (after 2008)

Aquila, Inc. was a company specializing in the distribution of electricity and natural gas, with its headquarters located in Kansas City, Missouri. It also managed power generation facilities. Previously operating under the name UtiliCorp United, Inc., the company held the #33 position on the Fortune 500 rankings.

On February 6, 2007, Aquila revealed plans for a $1.7 billion merger that would result in it becoming a fully owned subsidiary of Great Plains Energy. At the same time, Black Hills Corporation purchased Aquila’s electric and gas utility operations in Colorado, as well as its gas utilities in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, for $940 million. The merger was finalized on July 14, 2008, after which Aquila was rebranded as Black Hills Energy.

Solomon Valley Milling Company

The origins of Aquila trace back to the Solomon Valley Milling Company, established in 1902 by entrepreneur Lemuel K. Green in Osborne, Kansas. Initially functioning as a steam-powered flour mill, Green soon recognized the potential for selling electricity.

In 1908, Green sold this milling operation and purchased the H. M. Spalding Electric Light Plant located in Concordia, Kansas, which had previously operated only during limited hours. By acquiring power from another mill and extending electricity sales to adjacent towns, he laid the groundwork for Aquila’s future expansion and regional market presence.

Green Power & Light Company

By 1916, Green sold the plant to A.E. Fitkin & Company based in New York City for $550,000. Subsequently, he bought the Reeder Light, Ice & Fuel Company in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, renaming it Green Power & Light Company. He also developed Baldwin Lake to serve as a source of hydroelectric power and community water supply.

West Missouri Power Company

In 1922, with plans to grow through a new generating station at Clinton, Missouri, Green took the company public under the name West Missouri Power Company. Its primary rival in the Kansas City metropolitan area was Kansas City Power & Light. The company expanded its reach across southwest Missouri.

Missouri Public Service Company

In 1926, Green sold the enterprise back to the Fitkin Group, which merged it into Missouri Public Service Company. After retiring to Escondido, California, he purchased an orange grove and passed away in 1930. Following the enactment of the Public Utilities Act of 1935, his son Ralph Green gained controlling interest in Missouri Public Service and consolidated Middle West Corporation, Missouri Gas & Electric Service Company, and City Light and Traction Company of Sedalia.

UtiliCorp United Inc.

After Ralph Green died in 1962, leadership passed to his son Richard Green and later to Richard Green, Jr. in 1982. Under his guidance, the company broadened its operations beyond Missouri and adopted the name UtiliCorp United Inc. in 1985. Through stock offerings that reduced family ownership stakes, it acquired People's Natural Gas, Northern Minnesota Utilities, West Virginia Power, West Kootenay Power and Light (British Columbia), and Michigan Gas Utilities.

In 1989, UtiliCorp established Aquila Energy Corp., a subsidiary focused on unregulated gas ventures. In 1991, it purchased Centel's electric utilities located in Kansas and Colorado for $345 million, operating under the name WestPlains Energy. The company entered into a joint venture in the United Kingdom in 1992 and expanded its utility holdings into New Zealand and Australia between 1995 and 2000. In 1999, West Virginia Power was divested to Allegheny Energy.

Aquila, Inc.

In 2001, UtiliCorp divested Aquila but reacquired it the following year, subsequently renaming the entity Aquila, Inc. The company’s stock reached its highest value of $37.55 in May 2001 and achieved a Fortune 500 ranking of #33. However, by July 2002, its share price had plummeted to $6.75, largely due to the erosion of industry trust following the Enron scandal.

Federal litigation in 2004 accused Aquila’s board of directors of improperly encouraging employees to concentrate their retirement funds in company stock. These claims were consolidated into a class action lawsuit citing breaches of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Aquila resolved these claims with a $10.5 million settlement in 2007. That same year, intense winter storms caused widespread power interruptions impacting approximately 66,000 customers in Missouri.

Amid financial strain, Aquila began divesting various assets and slid to #891 on the Fortune 500 list by 2007. Its electric utility holdings in northwest Missouri were sold to Kansas City Power & Light (a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy) for $1.7 billion. Additionally, its natural gas assets and electric services in southeastern Colorado were transferred to Black Hills Corporation.

In 2006, Aquila’s Kansas electric utility operations were sold to Mid-Kansas Electric Company, a cooperative made up of six regional electric cooperatives, while its Kansas gas services were acquired by Empire District Electric Company. Two years later, Black Hills Corporation purchased the Colorado electric properties and rebranded them as Black Hills Energy.

The communities served by Mid-Kansas Electric Company that were formerly under Aquila Networks include:

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