Exhibit 31(b)



KANSAS GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY

PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING OFFICER

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002



I, Mark A. Ruelle, as vice president and treasurer of Kansas Gas and Electric Company, certify that:



| | 1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2004 of Kansas Gas and Electric Company;
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| | 2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
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| | 3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of
operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
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| | 4. | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:
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| | a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | b. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this report (the Evaluation
Date); and
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| | c. | Presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;
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| | 5. | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrants
auditors and the audit committee of registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
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| | a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
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| | c. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting; and
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| | 6. | The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have indicated in this report whether there were significant changes in internal controls or in other factors that could
significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.
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|                     |  |     |  |                                             
|-------------------- |  | --- |  | --------------------------------------------
|Date: March 16, 2005 |  | By: |  | /s/ Mark A. Ruelle                          
|                     |  |     |  | Mark A. Ruelle,                             
|                     |  |     |  | Vice President and Treasurer                
|                     |  |     |  | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)