IN JUST five years, Jim Haines not only pulled Westar Energy back from the brink of ruin, he also salvaged the company’s reputation and restored the confidence of investors and customers.
After five years of good news from the Topeka-based electric utility, it is difficult to remember what a mess the company was in when Haines was brought in to replace David Wittig. Under Wittig, Westar and its predecessor, Western Resources, had become involved in chancy financial games, made unwise investments and lost sight of its primary purpose — to generate electricity and deliver it to the people of Kansas at a reasonable rate.
Wittig was a high-flying money man who knew next to nothing about the electricity business and was less interested in running a good power utility than in milking it for his own benefit. Westar, which was selling an essential product to a captive market — paradise, in business terms — was bleeding money and lurching down the rocky road to ruin.
Scandal ended the Wittig era at Westar. The company stock had fallen to about $8 a share and the board of directors desperately needed to find a new chief executive officer who could repair the damaged company. In hiring Jim Haines, they made the right choice.
Haines had experience as a utility executive and — perhaps just as important — had taught business ethics at the University of Texas-El Paso. He not only knew what an electric utility was supposed to operate, he also knew how a company and its officers should conduct themselves as responsible members of society. From the beginning, Haines addressed himself to two tasks of equal importance: to fix Westar as a business and to build a new relationship of trust with the people of Kansas. He succeeded in both.
Haines is stepping down as CEO — resuming an interrupted retirement. He leaves a company that has shed all distractions and refocused its attention on doing its one job well. Last year, Westar reported revenues of $164.3 million. On Wednesday, the company’s stock closed at $28.40.
Haines has done his job.
His replacement as CEO will be another solid utility executive, William Moore, Westar’s president and chief operating officer. Moore has been with the company for all but two of the past 29 years.
The company and its investors owe Haines a debt of gratitude. So do the people of Kansas, who rely on the electric utility for comfort, safety and economic growth.
Westar has begun building a $318 million peaking power plant in Lyon County, yet another sign of the the company’s renewed vigor.
Wouldn’t it be fitting to name that plant for Jim Haines?
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
LOL--CEO of a corporation. Poor, poor man will have the most boring retirement, LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I'm sure the company & its investors have paid Haines a salary that most of us would be able to live off of for a lifetime.
M
April 28, 2007 at 8:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bdprotheroe (anonymous) says...
This sounds like story with a happy ending.
Mr. Wittig certainly did bring Westar to its knees; a disastrous mess. The responsibility to clean up the mess is something I wouldn't want placed on me, nor would most people; a high-level of visibility and risk to "heal" the ailments of a prominent company. I don't know Mr. Haines, but it sounds as if he deserves a round of applause for playing the role of "corporate doctor."
Too often we read about CEOs and other corporate leaders with unethical ways who drive organizations into the ground. To add fuel to the fire, (if they escape prison terms) they walk away with salaries that seem outrageously high considering the harm they have caused. Enron stands out, certainly. Such a nice change it is to read about a leader who puts forth his/her best effort to benefit investors, clients and employees. For that, whatever the size of the salary and retirement package he received, Mr. Haines has earned it.
Brian Protheroe
San Francisco, CA
April 29, 2007 at 2:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
B--ignore "Snake." He's sort of embarrassing.
M
April 29, 2007 at 10:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Emporia_Proud (anonymous) says...
I agree snake should be ignored.
April 30, 2007 at 9:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mylife (anonymous) says...
Where did I put my snake catcher? Snake, must you attack everybody? I mean, you're allowed your opinion, but calling somebody an idiot...there are more constructive ways of handling this issue than calling somebody an "idiot."
April 30, 2007 at 1:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
Sorry folks, I sort of agree with snake. He just tells it like it is. The truth that most people want to ignore in this town. Thanks
May 1, 2007 at 8:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Emporia_Proud (anonymous) says...
It is not what he says, it is how he says it. He needs to use a little more ease with the way he says things. That is, he outright attacks people and that is not a contructive way to do things. Now, do not get me wrong calling someone out is one thing. Calling them names and being rude is another.
May 1, 2007 at 8:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
agreed!!!!
May 1, 2007 at 8:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
johncanyon (anonymous) says...
Go stand in the corner Snake and don't come back untill you can play nice.
Just kidding.... I agree with you on this one.
May 1, 2007 at 9:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )