Topeka ? A regulatory order requiring the state’s largest electric company to cut its rates was upheld by the Kansas Court of Appeals in a pair of rulings Friday.

The Kansas Corporation Commission had ordered Western Resources Inc. last year to reduce its rates by $15.6 million overall. Western, which had sought to raise its rates by $15.1 million, asked the Court of Appeals to overturn the order.

In a separate appeal, a group of large industrial customers including Boeing Co. and Farmland Industries argued that Western’s rates should be cut an additional $42.8 million.

A three-judge panel issued unanimous rulings on both appeals Friday. Both Western and its customers can appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court.

The judges evaluated numerous technical arguments about how the KCC arrived at its decision, rejecting all challenges to the commission’s work. They noted that the courts usually defer to the KCC unless its decisions are arbitrary.

“The Legislature has vested the KCC with broad authority in weighing the competing interests involved in setting public utility rates,” Judge David Knudson wrote for the panel.

Citing previous precedents, Knudson added the Court of Appeals may not reverse a KCC order unless the the commission’s decision “is so wide of the mark as to be outside the realm of fair debate.”

The KCC still is trying to decide exactly how rate changes will be implemented for different types of Western customers in different parts of the state.

“This allows the process to continue to move forward,” KCC spokeswoman Rosemary Foreman said of the rulings.

Western has proposed cutting rates for customers of its KGE subsidiaries in southeast and south-central Kansas by $41 million. Rates for customers of its KPL subsidiary in northeast and central Kansas would increase $25.4 million, but their old rates were significantly lower.