Topeka ? Westar Energy Inc., ordered by state regulators to reorganize, on Monday reported a 21 percent increase in its third-quarter earnings, due in part to hot September weather.

The company said it earned $43.6 million during the quarter ending Sept. 30, or 61 cents per share, compared with $36 million, or 51 cents per share, during the third quarter of 2001.

Westar, the state’s largest electric company, took a one-time charge of 27 cents per share. The charge, announced in September, reflects how accounting rules apply to $400 million of the company’s more than $3 billion debt.

Sales totaled $529.1 million, compared with $513.5 million in the year-earlier period.

“There weren’t really any surprises there,” said Barbara Eiseman, an analyst for Standard & Poor’s rating service, which last week said it might downgrade Westar’s credit ratings over financial issues.

On Friday, the Kansas Corporation Commission ordered Westar to reorganize, saying it wanted to protect electric consumers from risks associated with the company’s nonutility business interests. The commission wants Westar to move its utility operations into one or more subsidiaries.

Westar provides service to about 647,000 customers in Kansas, including Lawrence. Its nonutility interests include an 88 percent ownership stake in the Protection One security alarm company, which critics argue is a drain on Westar’s finances.

The KCC said the nonutility business interests have “distracted” Westar’s management from its “core obligation” of providing electric service in much of Kansas.

On Monday, Standard & Poor’s said in a statement it’s unclear how Westar will separate its utility and nonutility operations, but that any plan that reduces its debt will improve its “frail” financial condition.

Shares in Westar rose 23 cents to close Monday at $9.40 on the New York Stock Exchange.