16. GUARANTEES

In the ordinary course of business, Great Plains Energy and certain of its subsidiaries enter into various agreements providing financial or performance assurance to third parties on behalf of certain subsidiaries. Such agreements include, for example, guarantees and letters of credit. These agreements are entered into primarily to support or enhance the creditworthiness otherwise attributed to a subsidiary on a stand-alone basis, thereby facilitating the extension of sufficient credit to accomplish the subsidiary's intended business purposes. The majority of these agreements guarantee the Company's own future performance, so a liability for the fair value of the obligation is not recorded.

At December 31, 2012, Great Plains Energy has provided $155.1 million of credit support for GMO as follows:


•	Great Plains Energy direct guarantees to GMO counterparties totaling $40.7 million, which expire in 2014,


•	Great Plains Energy letters of credit to GMO counterparties totaling $1.8 million, which expire in 2013, and


•	Great Plains Energy guarantee of GMO long-term debt totaling $112.6 million, which includes debt with maturity dates ranging from 2013-2023.

Great Plains Energy has also guaranteed GMO's $450 million revolving line of credit with a group of banks expiring in December 2016. At December 31, 2012, GMO had $169.1 million of commercial paper outstanding, had issued letters of credit totaling $15.1 million and had no outstanding cash borrowings under this credit facility.