6. PENSION PLANS AND OTHER EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Great Plains Energy maintains defined benefit pension plans for substantially all active and inactive employees, including officers, of KCP&L and GMO, and its 47% ownership share of Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (WCNOC) defined benefit plans. For the majority of employees, pension benefits under these plans reflect the employees' compensation, years of service and age at retirement; however, for union employees hired after October 1, 2013, the benefits are derived from a cash balance account formula. Effective in 2014, the KCP&L non-union plan was closed to future employees. Great Plains Energy also provides certain post-retirement health care and life insurance benefits for substantially all retired employees of KCP&L, GMO and its 47% ownership share of WCNOC.

KCP&L and GMO record pension and post-retirement expense in accordance with rate orders from the MPSC and KCC that allow the difference between pension and post-retirement costs under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and costs for ratemaking to be recognized as a regulatory asset or liability. This difference between financial and regulatory accounting methods is due to timing and will be eliminated over the life of the plans.

The following table provides Great Plains Energy's components of net periodic benefit costs prior to the effects of capitalization and sharing with joint owners of power plants.



	Pension Benefits						Other Benefits
Three Months Ended March 31	2014			2013			2014			2013
Components of net periodic benefit costs	(millions)
Service cost	$	9.1		$	10.5		$	0.9		$	1.1
Interest cost	12.7			11.8			2.0			1.9
Expected return on plan assets	(12.7		)	(11.8		)	(0.7		)	(0.5		)
Prior service cost	0.2			0.5			0.8			1.8
Recognized net actuarial loss	12.4			13.7			—			0.5
Net periodic benefit costs before regulatory adjustment	21.7			24.7			3.0			4.8
Regulatory adjustment	(0.4		)	(3.6		)	1.1			(0.5		)
Net periodic benefit costs	$	21.3		$	21.1		$	4.1		$	4.3

For the three months ended March 31, 2014, Great Plains Energy contributed $3.3 million to the pension plans and expects to contribute an additional $58.9 million in 2014 to satisfy the minimum Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA) funding requirements and the MPSC and KCC rate orders, the majority of which is expected to be paid by KCP&L. Also in 2014, Great Plains Energy expects to make contributions of $11.3 million to the post-retirement benefit plans, the majority of which is expected to be paid by KCP&L.