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                    SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION
        PROXY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 14(a) OF THE
                 SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Filed by the Registrant  [X]
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant [ ]

Check the appropriate box:

[ ]  Preliminary Proxy Statement
[ ]  Confidential, for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted
     by Rule 14a-6(e)(2))

[ ]  Definitive Proxy Statement
[X]  Definitive Additional Materials
[ ]  Soliciting Material Pursuant to Rule 240.14a-11(c) or Rule
     240.14a-12

                KANSAS CITY POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
        (NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN ITS CHARTER)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

[ ]  $125 per Exchange Act Rules 0-11(c)(1)(ii), 14a-6(i)(1),
     14a-6(i)(2) or Item 22(a)(2) of Schedule 14A.

[ ]  $500 per each party to the controversy pursuant to Exchange
     Act Rule 14a-6(i)(3).

[ ]  Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules
     14a-6(i)(4) and 0-11.

     (1)  Title of each class of securities to which transaction
          applies:

     (2)  Aggregate number of securities to which transaction
          applies:

     (3)  Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction
          computed pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 0-11:

     (4)  Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction:

     (5)  Total fee paid:

[X]  Fee paid previously with preliminary materials.

[ ]  Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by
     Exchange Act Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for
     which the offsetting fee was paid previously.  Identify the
     previous filing by registration statement number, or the
     Form or Schedule and the date of its filing.

     (1)  Amount Previously Paid:

     (2)  Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.:

     (3)  Filing Party:

     (4)  Date Filed:

                              ####
                                                                 



[Western Resources logo]                     [KCPL logo]



MEDIA CONTACTS:                         MEDIA CONTACTS:
Michel' J. Philipp (785) 575-1927       Phyllis Desbien (816) 556-2903

INVESTOR CONTACT:                       INVESTOR CONTACT:
Bruce Burns (785) 575-8227              David Myers (816) 556-2312


                       JOINT NEWS RELEASE
                                
                     WESTERN RESOURCES, KCPL
            FILE APPLICATIONS FOR APPROVAL OF MERGER
                                
     TOPEKA, Kansas, and KANSAS CITY, Missouri, June 17, 1998 --

Western Resources (NYSE:WR) and Kansas City Power & Light Company

(NYSE:KLT) today jointly filed amended applications with the

Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) and the Missouri Public

Service Commission (MPSC) asking for approval of their

restructured merger agreement.

     The merger will create a company with more than one million

electric customers in Kansas and Missouri, $8.2 billion in assets

and more than 8,000 megawatts of electric generation resources.

     The boards of directors of Western Resources and KCPL

approved the restructured merger of the two companies in March.

     In addition to the approval of the KCC and the MPSC, the

merger is conditioned upon the approvals of each company's

shareowners, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other governmental approvals.

     Both companies will ask shareowners to approve the

transaction July 30, 1998.

                              -30-




p. 2 - MERGER FILING

     Western Resources (NYSE:WR) is a consumer services company
with interests in monitored security and energy. The company has
total assets of more than $7 billion, including security company
holdings through ownership of Protection One (NASDAQ:ALRM), which
has more than 1 million security customers in 48 states. Its
utilities, KPL and KGE, provide electric service to approximately
614,000 customers in Kansas. Through its ownership in ONEOK Inc.
(NYSE:OKE), a Tulsa-based natural gas company, Western Resources
has a 45 percent interest in the eighth largest natural gas
distribution company in the nation, serving more than 1 million
customers. Through its other subsidiaries, Westar Capital and The
Wing Group, the company participates in energy-related
investments in the continental United States and offshore.
     For more information about Western Resources and its
operating companies, visit us on the Internet at
http://www.wstnres.com.

     Kansas City Power & Light Company (NYSE:KLT) provides
electric power to a growing and diversified service territory
encompassing metropolitan Kansas City, parts of eastern Kansas
and western Missouri. KCPL is a low-cost producer and leader in
fuel procurement and plant technology. KLT Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of KCPL, pursues opportunities in nonregulated,
primarily energy-related ventures.
     For more information about KCPL, visit http://www.kcpl.com.