Exhibit 12 (a)

WESTAR ENERGY, INC.

Computations of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges and

Computations of Ratio of Earnings to Combined Fixed Charges

and Preferred Dividend Requirements

(Dollars in Thousands)



|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |  | ----------------------- | ------- | ---- | - | ------- |  | ---- | ------- | ---- | - | ------- |  | - | -------
|                                                                                |  | Year Ended December 31,
|                                                                                |  | 2009                    |         | 2008 |   | 2007    |  | 2006 |         | 2005
|Earnings from continuing operations (a)                                         |  | $                       | 200,226 |      | $ | 182,139 |  | $    | 232,224 |      | $ | 221,715 |  | $ | 195,485
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Fixed Charges:                                                                  |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|Interest expense                                                                |  |                         | 162,217 |      |   | 126,986 |  |      | 116,973 |      |   | 102,703 |  |   | 111,735
|Interest on corporate-owned life insurance borrowings                           |  |                         | 68,401  |      |   | 58,207  |  |      | 55,164  |      |   | 52,234  |  |   | 51,058 
|Interest applicable to rentals                                                  |  |                         | 22,353  |      |   | 23,227  |  |      | 22,713  |      |   | 21,959  |  |   | 23,324 
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|Total Fixed Charges (b)                                                         |  |                         | 252,971 |      |   | 208,420 |  |      | 194,850 |      |   | 176,896 |  |   | 186,117
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Distributed income of equity investees                                          |  |                         |        |      |   |        |  |      |        |      |   |        |  |   |       
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Preferred Dividend Requirements:                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|Preferred dividends                                                             |  |                         | 970     |      |   | 970     |  |      | 970     |      |   | 970     |  |   | 970    
|Income tax required                                                             |  |                         | 404     |      |   | 22      |  |      | 368     |      |   | 330     |  |   | 435    
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Total Preferred Dividend Requirements (c)                                       |  |                         | 1,374   |      |   | 992     |  |      | 1,338   |      |   | 1,300   |  |   | 1,405  
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Total Fixed Charges and Preferred                                               |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|Dividend Requirements                                                           |  |                         | 254,345 |      |   | 209,412 |  |      | 196,188 |      |   | 178,196 |  |   | 187,522
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Earnings (d)                                                                    |  |                         | 453,197 |      | $ | 390,559 |  | $    | 427,074 |      | $ | 398,611 |  | $ | 381,602
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |   |         |  |      |         |      |   |         |  |   |        
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges                                              |  |                         | 1.79    |      |   | 1.87    |  |      | 2.19    |      |   | 2.25    |  |   | 2.05   
|                                                                                |  |                         |         |      |  
|Ratio of Earnings to Combined Fixed Charges and Preferred Dividend Requirements |  |                         | 1.78    |      |   | 1.87    |  |      | 2.18    |      |   | 2.24    |  |   | 2.03   



| | (a) | Earnings from continuing operations consist of income from continuing operations before income taxes, cumulative effects of accounting changes and preferred dividends
adjusted for undistributed earnings from equity investees.
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| | (b) | Fixed charges consist of all interest on indebtedness, interest on uncertain tax positions, interest on corporate-owned life insurance policies, amortization of debt
discount and expense, and the portion of rental expense that represents an interest factor.
| | --- | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



| | (c) | Preferred dividend requirements consist of an amount equal to the pre-tax earnings that would be required to meet dividend requirements on preferred stock.
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| | (d) | Earnings are deemed to consist of earnings from continuing operations, fixed charges and distributed income of equity investees.
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