Empire District posts $40M in '08 earnings

Empire District Electric Co. posted $39.7 million in 2008 earnings, the company announced Thursday at a meeting of its board of directors.

The yearly total equates to $1.17 per diluted share, compared to $33.2 million, or $1.09 per share, in 2007. Fourth-quarter earnings totaled $7.7 million, or 23 cents per share, compared to a loss of $400,000, or 1 cent per share, in fourth-quarter 2007.

Among the Joplin-based utility's 2008 highlights was the beginning of commercial operations at the Meridian Way Wind Farm in December. The wind farm, owned and operated by Horizon Wind Energy near Concordia, Kan., is expected to create 350,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually; when combined with the Elk River Windfarm in Beaumont, Kan., wind energy will account for as much as 15 percent of the company's energy.

The board also announced two new members, pending approval at its April 23 meeting.

Bonnie Lind and Paul Portney were nominated to fill board vacancies that will be left when members Mary McCleary Posner and Myron McKinney retire in April.

Lind is senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer for Neenah Paper Inc. in Alpharetta, Ga., where she has been employed since 2004. She previously held various financial and management positions during 21 years at Kimberly-Clark Corp. Lind has a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Georgia.

Portney has been dean of Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona since 2005. Portney, also an economics professor at the university, was previously president and CEO of Washington, D.C., environment and energy research nonprofit Resources for the Future Inc. He also served as chief economist on the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Portney has a doctorate from Northwestern University.

Empire District shares (NYSE: EDE) closed Thursday at $18.07, compared to a 52-week range of $14.90 to $23.48.

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