On May 15, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services raised its corporate credit rating on Aquila Inc. to 'B+' from 'B'. The rating remains on CreditWatch with positive implications pending requisite approvals for the sale of 100% of Aquila's common stock to Great Plains Energy Inc. The upgrade follows Aquila's announcement that it will repurchase another $344 million in outstanding debt by June 15, 2007, bringing total adjusted debt reduction to about $1.1 billion since year-end 2005. The pending repurchases are the final step in Aquila's original divestiture and debt reduction plan, which called for the sale of three gas utilities and one electric utility, with cash proceeds (originally estimated at about $1 billion) applied to debt reduction. Pro forma
