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 1 operating income usd 190.1 million 2006 1 net income usd 23.9 million 2006 1 total assets usd 874.0 million 2006 1 total equity usd 1 306.1 million 2006 1 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 . 2 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 . contents 1 history 1.1 solomon valley milling company 1.2 green power & light company 1.3 west missouri power company 1.4 missouri public service company 1.5 utilicorp united inc. 1.6 aquila inc. 2 references 3 external links history edit solomon valley milling company edit 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 . green power & light company edit 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 . west missouri power company edit 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 . missouri public service company edit in 1926 he sold it to the fitkin group again which merged with the missouri public service company . green retired to escondido california where bought a 2 000 acre 8.1 km2 orange grove . he died in 1930 . the public utilities act of 1935 broke up utilities . green s son ralph green bought controlling interest in missouri public service . green was bring in middle west corporation missouri gas & electric service company and city light and traction company of sedalia missouri . utilicorp united inc. edit ralph green died in 1962 and his son richard green took the helm . richard green jr. took over in 1982 . the latest green looked to expand it beyond its missouri base and it was renamed utilicorp united inc. in 1985 . it bought people s natural gas northern minnesota utilities west virginia power west kootenay power and light in british columbia and michigan gas utilities . in 1989 it assigned its unregulated gas operations to a newly created subsidiary aquila energy corp. the acquisitions were done by issuing stock and reducing green family control . in 1992 the company entered into a joint venture to distribute and market natural gas in the united kingdom . from 1995 to 2000 it bought interest in utilities in new zealand and australia . in some markets utilicorp placed electric and phone bills on the same bill . in 1991 centel sold its electric utility holdings in kansas and colorado to utilicorp for 345 million which operated under the name west plains energy . before then centel in colorado was known as southern colorado power company which was later changed to centel electric southern colorado power division . in 2006 aquila networks sold the kansas electric properties to mid kansas electric company a cooperative . in 2008 the colorado electric properties were acquired by black hills corporation and was renamed black hills energy . west virginia power was sold to allegheny energy in 1999 becoming part of its monongahela power subsidiary . aquila inc. edit in 2001 utilicorp spun off aquila but then bought it back in 2002 and then renamed the entire corporation aquila inc. aquila s stock price peaked at 37.55 in may 2001 and it ranked 33 on the fortune 500 . the stock plummeted to 6.75 in july 2002 in the wake of the enron scandal which had called into question business practices of all electric utilities . 3 in 2004 five lawsuits were filed in federal court alleging that aquila s board of directors steered employees into heavily investing their retirement savings in company stock . on jan. 26 2005 these suits were folded into a single class action 4 alleging top company officials violated the federal employee retirement income security act requiring that employers manage employees retirement programs responsibly . 5 the company settled the case for 10.5 million in april 2007 . 6 the company began selling its assets and dropped to 891 on the fortune list in 2007 . 7 in 2007 its electric assets in northwest missouri were acquired by its historic rival kansas city power & light via its new parent great plains energy for 1.7 billion . 8 its gas properties as well as its electric service area in southeastern colorado including pueblo were acquired by black hills corporation . 66 000 of the company s customers in missouri lost power for several days in the mid december 2007 north american winter storms . references edit a b c d e finance.google.com finance.google.com profile http money.cnn.com magazines fortune fortune500 archive snapshots 2002 1519.html international directory of company histories vol . 50 . st. james press 2003 https motherjones.com files 1232 cid 3 amended consolidated complaint.pdf http motherjones.com politics 2011 05 herman cain aquila lawsuit 2012 http bankrupt.com car public 080326 . mbx fortune500 2007 black hills offers kan. regulators new deal on aquila gas buy february 13 2008 external links edit official page international directory of company histories vol . 50 . st. james press 2003 reuters profile retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title aquila inc. & oldid 633319156 categories natural gas companies of the united statespower companies of the united statescompanies based in kansas city missourihydroelectric power companies of the united states navigation menu personal 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