Kansas City Power&Light Co.

S&P Global Ratings' stable outlook on KCP&L reflects that of ultimate parent Evergy Inc. This reflects our base-case scenario that Evergy's regulated utility operations will continue to generate sufficient cash flow to maintain financial measures that support adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt of 16%-17% from 2019 through 2021. This range places the company just below the midpoint of our significant financial risk profile assessment. The outlook also reflects our expectation of a stronger business risk profile and a clear path to realizing proposed synergies that result in operational improvements and cost savings. Further enhancing the business risk profile will be the almost full ownership of the Wolf Creek nuclear plant, strengthening control and leading to additional operating efficiencies.

...The regulatory environment in Kansas has at times been mixed.Although Kansas regulators provide Kansas City Power & Light Co. (KCP&L) with a variety of mechanisms to recover invested costs, at times the authority can be restrictive from a credit standpoint. In KCP&L's late December 2018 rate case, the regulators approved a 9.3% return on equity (ROE), below prevailing industry averages, and as part of the merger of Great Plains Energy Inc. and Westar Energy Inc. (Westar), the Kansas Corp. Commission (KCC) ordered a rate-case moratorium for up to five years. Merger-related bill credits will impact revenue modestly through 2022.As per the approved merger, the Kansas and Missouri commissions stipulated one-time bill credits through 2022 of about $35 million to retail electric customers in both Kansas and Missouri. However, we expect a diminishing impact as the credits are paid out over the next five years. Strong financial measures bolster significant financial risk profile during rate case...

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