Aquila, Inc.
 |
|
| Merged | |
| Genre | Energy Company |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Founder | Lemuel K. Green |
| Defunct | 2007 (Certain assets acquired by Black Hills Corporation, others acquired by Great Plains Energy) |
| Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri, United States |
|
Key people
|
Richard C. Green (Chairman, President, CEO) Herman Cain (Director 1992-2008) |
| Revenue | USD $ 1,369 Million (2006) |
USD  -$190.1 Million (2006) |
|
| USD $ 23.9 Million (2006) | |
| Total assets | USD $874.0 Million (2006) |
| Total equity | USD $1,306.1 Million (2006) |
| Website | blackhillsenergy.com |
Aquila, Inc. was an electricity and natural gas distribution network headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri in the United States. The company also owned and operated power generation assets. It previously operated under the name UtiliCorp United, Inc. The company at one time ranked #33 on the Fortune 500 list.
On February 6, 2007, the company announced plans for a merger valued at $1.7 billion to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Plains Energy. In conjunction with the merger Black Hills Corporation is to acquire its Colorado electric utility and the Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska gas utilities for $940 million. The merger closed on July 14, 2008 and Aquila now operates under the name Black Hills Energy.
Aquila has its roots in the Solomon Valley Milling Company founded in 1902 by Lemuel K. Green in Osborne, Kansas. The steam mill used to process flour and Green discovered he could sell electricity.
In 1908 sold the mill and bought the H. M. Spalding Electric Light Plant in Concordia, Kansas. Prior to Green's purchase the plant generated power only dawn to midnight and was closed on Sundays. Green bought power from another flour mill and began selling power to neighboring towns.
In 1916 he sold the plant to the A.E. Fitkin & Company in New York City for $550,000. He then bought the Reeder Light, Ice & Fuel Company in Pleasant Hill, Missouri and renamed the company Green Power & Light Company. He then built Baldwin Lake which was used for hydroelectric power as well as provide water for the community.
In 1922 looking to expand with a generating plant at Clinton, Missouri he took the company public under the name West Missouri Power Company. Its chief rival in the Kansas City metropolitan area was Kansas City Power & Light. The company continued to expand through southwest Missouri.
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Wikipedia