EXHIBIT
(10)(o)


 


February 12, 2009


 


	
  Name

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Address

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Dear

  	
   

  	
  :

  
					



 


The Empire
District Electric Company


2006 Stock
Incentive Plan (the “Plan”)


 


Notice of
Non-Qualified Stock Option Award


 


This
is to advise you that effective as of February 4, 2009 (the “Grant Date”),
The Empire District Electric Company (“the Company”) has granted to you an
option (“Option”) under the Plan consisting of the right to purchase                    shares of Common Stock of the Company (“Stock”)
at an Option price of $18.115 per share, subject to the conditions and terms
herein stated and the applicable terms and conditions of the Plan (copy
attached).


 


This Option is not intended to be, and will not be treated
as, an incentive stock option within the meaning of Section 422 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.


 


1.                                       Exercisability.  This
Option shall vest and become exercisable on the earlier of the third
anniversary of the Grant Date or the date of a Change in Control of the
Company.  Thereafter, this Option shall remain
exercisable until the tenth anniversary of the Grant Date unless sooner
terminated pursuant to Section 2 below.


 


2.                                       Termination of Employment. 
In the event of the termination of your employment with the Company and
its Subsidiaries by reason of your death, Retirement, Disability, involuntary
termination by the Company and its Subsidiaries without Cause or voluntary
termination by you with the consent of the Committee, this Option, if not
already exercisable, shall become exercisable on the date determined pursuant
to the first sentence of Section 1 above and shall remain exercisable
until the tenth anniversary of the Grant Date. 
A termination of employment for any of the reasons specified in the
preceding sentence is hereinafter referred to as a “Designated Termination.”  In the event of the involuntary termination
of your employment by the Company and its Subsidiaries for Cause, this Option
shall terminate immediately upon such termination of employment.  In the event of the voluntary termination of
your employment by you without the consent of the Committee, this Option shall
terminate on the 30th day following such termination of employment, and shall
be exercisable prior to such termination only to the extent it has become
exercisable, or becomes exercisable during that 30-day period pursuant to the
first sentence of Section 1 above.


 


3.                                       Exercise.  After this
Option becomes exercisable pursuant to Section 1 above and during the
period that this Option remains exercisable pursuant to Sections 1 and 2
above, this Option may be exercised in whole or in part by filing a written
notice with the Company.  The exercise
notice must specify the number of shares of Stock which you elect to


 

















 


purchase and must be accompanied by payment of the Option price (including
any applicable withholding taxes) for such shares of Stock indicated by your
election.  Payment of the Option price
(and any applicable withholding taxes) shall be made in cash or shares of Stock
having a Fair Market Value (as defined in the Plan) on the date of the exercise
of this Option equal to the Option price payable under this Option or a
combination of cash and shares of Stock, and no shares of Stock shall be issued
upon exercise of this Option until full payment has been made therefore.


 


4.                                       Heirs and Successors. 
This Award shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the
Company and its successors and assigns, and upon any person acquiring, whether
by merger, consolidation, purchase of assets or otherwise, all or substantially
all of the Company’s assets and business. 
If any of your rights or benefits distributable to you under this Award
have not been exercised or distributed, respectively, at the time of your
death, such rights shall be exercisable by your Designated Beneficiary, and
such benefits shall be distributed to your Designated Beneficiary, in
accordance with the provisions of this Award and the Plan.  The “Designated Beneficiary” shall be the
beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by you in a writing filed with the
Committee in such form and at such time as the Committee shall require.  If you are deceased and failed to designate a
beneficiary, or if the Designated Beneficiary does not survive you, any rights
that would have been exercisable by you and any benefits distributable to you
shall be exercised by or distributed to the legal representative of your
estate.  If you are deceased and have
designated a beneficiary and the Designated Beneficiary survives you but dies
before the Designated Beneficiary’s exercise of all rights under this Award or
before the complete distribution of benefits to the Designated Beneficiary
under this Award, then any rights that would have been exercisable by the
Designated Beneficiary shall be exercised by the legal representative of the estate
of the Designated Beneficiary, and any benefits distributable to the Designated
Beneficiary shall be distributed to the legal representative of the estate of
the Designated Beneficiary.


 


5.                                       Administration.  The
authority to manage and control the operation and administration of this Award
shall be vested in the Committee identified in the Plan, and the Committee
shall have all of the powers with respect to this Award that it has with
respect to the Plan.  Any interpretation
of this Award by the Committee and any decision made by it with respect to this
Award are final and binding on all persons.


 


6.                                       Amendment.  This Award
may be amended by written agreement between you and the Company, without the
consent of any other person.


 


7.                                       Nontransferability. 
This Award shall not be transferable except by will or the laws of
descent and distribution or by beneficiary designation in accordance with Section 5
above and shall be exercisable during your lifetime only by you.


 


8.                                       Taxes.  The
Company shall be entitled to withhold the amount of any withholding tax payable
with respect to the Award and to sell such number of shares of Stock as may be
necessary to produce the amount requested by the employee to be withheld,
unless the recipient supplies to the Company cash in the amount requested by
the Company for the purpose.  The
employee may request amounts withheld in excess of the minimum statutory
requirement.


 


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9.                                       Employee and Shareholder Status.  This Award does not constitute a contract of
continued service and does not give you the right to be retained as an employee
of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries. 
This Award does not confer upon you or any other holder thereof any
right as a shareholder of the Company prior to the issuance of shares of Stock
pursuant to the exercise of the Option.


 


10.                                 Plan Governs. 
Notwithstanding anything in this Award to the contrary, the terms of
this Award shall be subject to the terms of the Plan.


 


11.                                 Rules Relating to Termination of Employment.  For purposes of this Award, the date of
termination of your employment shall be the first day occurring on or after the
Grant Date on which you are not employed by the Company or any Subsidiary,
regardless of the reason for the termination of employment; provided
that a termination of employment shall not be deemed to occur by reason of a
transfer of you between the Company and a Subsidiary or between two
Subsidiaries; and further provided that your employment shall not be considered
terminated while you are on a leave of absence from the Company or a Subsidiary
approved by your employer.  If, as a
result of a sale or other transaction, your employer ceases to be a Subsidiary
(and your employer is or becomes an entity that is separate from the Company),
and you are not, at the end of the 30-day period following the transaction,
employed by the Company or an entity that is then a Subsidiary, then, the
occurrence of such transaction shall be treated as the date of termination of
your employment caused by you being discharged by the employer.


 


12.                                 Definitions.  For
purposes of this Award, the terms used in this Award shall have the following
meanings:


 


(i)                                                                                     Cause.  A termination
of employment for “Cause” means any termination of your employment by the
Company or any of its Subsidiaries for (i) serious, willful misconduct in
respect of your obligations to the Company or its Subsidiaries, which has
caused demonstrable and serious injury to the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries, monetary or otherwise, as evidenced by a determination in a
binding and final judgment, order or decree of a court or administrative agency
of competent jurisdiction, in effect after exhaustion or lapse of all rights of
appeal, in an action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal,
administrative or investigative; (ii) conviction of a felony, which has
caused demonstrable and serious injury to the Company or any of its
Subsidiaries, monetary or otherwise, as evidenced by a binding and final
judgment, order, or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, in effect
after exhaustion or lapse of all rights of appeal; or (iii) your willful
and continual failure to substantially perform your duties for the Company or
any of its Subsidiaries (other than resulting from your incapacity due to
physical or mental illness) which failure continued for a period of at least
thirty (30) days after a written notice of demand for substantial performance
has been delivered to you specifying the manner in which you have failed to
substantially perform.


 


(ii)                                                                                  Change in Control.  A “Change in Control” of the Company shall
mean “a change in the ownership or effective control” of the Company, or “in
the ownership of a substantial portion of the assets” of the Company, within
the meaning of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended, and Treasury regulations and Internal Revenue Service guidance
thereunder.


 


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(iii)                                                                               Disability.  Except as
otherwise provided by the Committee, “Disability” means the determination by
the Committee, in its sole discretion, that a permanent and total disability
exists in accordance with uniform and non-discriminatory standards adopted by
the Committee from time to time.


 


(iv)                                                                              Retirement.  “Retirement”
means your retirement on an “Early Retirement Date” or on or after your “Normal
Retirement Date,” as those terms are defined in The Empire District Electric
Company Employees’ Retirement Plan.


 


(v)                                                                                 Voting Securities.  “Voting
Securities” means any securities which carry the right to vote generally in the
election of directors.


 


(vi)                                                                              Plan Definitions. 
Except where the context clearly implies or indicates the contrary, a
word, term, or phrase used in the Plan is similarly used in this Award.


 


Please
acknowledge receipt of this Notice of Award by signing and returning to the
Secretary of the Company the enclosed copy thereof, together with a completed
and signed beneficiary designation form.


 


	
   

  	
  Very truly yours,

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Chairman of the Plan Committee

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Receipt of the foregoing Notice of Non-Qualified

  	
   

  
	
  Stock Option Award is hereby acknowledged.

  	
   

  
	
  My signed beneficiary designation form is attached.

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Name:

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Date

  	
   

  



 


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