Missouri PSC Approves Stipulated Agreement for the Empire District Electric Company in Missouri Electric Interim Case

Business Wire, June 5, 2002

Business Editors

JOPLIN, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2002

The Empire District Electric Company (NYSE: EDE) has announced that the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC), by a 5-0 vote, approved the Stipulated Agreement filed by the Company on May 15, 2002, for changes in rates for its Missouri electric customers.

The agreement sets the framework for the Company's recovery of "off-system sales" expenses in the Interim Energy Charge (IEC) that was established in the Company's 2001 rate case, and provides for a $7 million annual reduction in the IEC. The IEC will be reduced to $0.0035 per kilowatt hour from the current $0.0054 per kilowatt hour. The reduction will become effective on June 14, 2002, with a residential customer using 750 kilowatt hours seeing a reduction of $1.43 in their monthly bill.

The remaining IEC will be subject to refund following an audit of Empire's actual fuel and purchased power expenses at the end of the IEC in October 2003.

The reduction in the IEC is possible due to steps taken by Empire to reduce and stabilize its fuel and purchased power expenses, notably natural gas, through the implementation of a Risk Management Policy.

In making the announcement, Mr. Greg Knapp, Vice President - Finance and CFO, stated: "We are pleased that the MPSC has approved this agreement. We believe it is in the best interest of our customers and our shareholders by clarifying the framework for the recovery of "off-system expenses" and by reducing the amount of the IEC. We have worked hard to reduce our fuel and purchased power expenses and believe our customers should reap the benefit of the reductions."

Based in Joplin, Missouri, The Empire District Electric Company (NYSE:EDE) is an investor-owned utility providing electric service to approximately 150,000 customers in southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma, and northwest Arkansas. The Company also offers monitored security, fiber optic service, and decorative lighting services to its customers, and provides water service in three incorporated communities in Missouri.

Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements address future plans, objectives, expectations, and events or conditions concerning various matters. Actual results in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements, by reason of the factors noted in our filings with the SEC, including the most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.