Topeka ? Westar Energy Inc. posted lower first-quarter earnings Monday than it did a year ago, reflecting the sale of the company’s nonelectric holdings and declines in the wholesale energy market.

Westar announced earnings of $15.4 million, or 21 cents a share, for the quarter ending March 31, compared to $123.7 million, or $1.72 per share, in the year ago period.

In the first quarter of 2003, the company had earnings of $103.8 million from discontinued operations, primarily tax benefits related to its Protection One monitored security business. Earnings from discontinued operations in the first quarter of 2004 were just $6.9 million.

Earnings from ongoing operations were $12.5 million, or 17 cents per share, for the first quarter, compared to $21.3 million, or 29 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2003. Westar officials affirmed earnings guidance for the entire year of $1.50 to $1.60 per share during a conference call to discuss the first-quarter results.

The company attributed the lower earnings to the elimination of dividends in its holdings in ONEOK Inc., an Oklahoma-based natural gas conglomerate, and unplanned outages and reduced operating capability at one of its generating stations, which contributed to lower sales of electricity on the wholesale market.

Doug Sterbenz, Westar’s vice president for generation and marketing, said two outages at the Jeffrey Energy Center contributed to lower revenues. One outage was scheduled, while the second was caused by failure of a generator rotor. Both units are back online, he said, adding that further fluctuations in sales are possible, depending on the summer weather and fuel costs.

In addition, Westar’s earnings were reduced by $2.1 million in revenue set aside for rebates that will be paid to customers in 2005 and 2006 as part of a settlement with the Kansas Corporation Commission. The commission has ordered the company to restructure its finances, reduce its debt and shed nonutility operations.

Westar is Kansas’ largest electric utility, serving more than 647,000 customers including Lawrence, with assets of approximately $5.3 billion.

Shares of Westar closed down 81 cents to $19.01 in trading Monday.