UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

~~Pursuant~~Date toof ~~Section 13~~Report: orJanuary 1518, 2024 (dDate of earliest event reported)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Commission File Number	Exact Name of Registrant as specified in its charter	State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization	IRS Employer Identification Number
333-274815	THE EMPIRE DISTRICT ELECTRIC COMPANY	Kansas	44-0236370
333-274815-01	EMPIRE DISTRICT BONDCO, LLC	Delaware	93-3459519

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):

The Empire District Electric Company

EMPIRE DISTRICT BONDCO, LLC

602 S. Joplin Avenue
Joplin, Missouri 64801
(Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)

(417) 625-5100
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

c/o The Empire District Electric Company
602 S. Joplin Avenue
Joplin, Missouri 64801
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(417) 625-5100
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

~~January~~Check the appropriate box below if the Form 1,8-K filing ~~2017~~is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

~~THE~~¨ ~~EMPIRE~~Written ~~DISTRICT~~communications ~~ELECTRIC~~pursuant ~~COMPANY~~to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) ¨ Soliciting Material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) ¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) ¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

~~(Exact~~Securities ~~name~~registered ofpursuant ~~registrant~~to ~~as specified in its charter~~Section 12(b) of the Act:

KS		1-3368		44-0236370
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)		(Commission File Number)		(IRS Employer identification No.)

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
N/A	N/A	N/A

~~602~~Indicate Sby check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 ~~Joplin~~of ~~Avenue,~~this ~~Joplin,~~chapter) ~~Missouri,~~or ~~64801~~Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

~~(Address~~Emerging ofgrowth ~~principal~~company ~~executive~~The ~~offices)~~Empire ~~(Zip~~District ~~code)~~Electric Company ¨

~~Registrant’s~~Emerging ~~telephone~~growth ~~number,~~company ~~including~~Empire ~~area~~District ~~code:~~Bondco, ~~(417)~~LLC ~~625-5100~~¨

~~Check~~If ~~the~~an ~~appropriate~~emerging ~~box~~growth ~~below~~company, ifindicate by check mark if the ~~Form 8-K~~registrant ~~filing~~has iselected ~~intended~~not to ~~simultaneously~~use ~~satisfy~~ the ~~filing~~extended ~~obligation~~transition ofperiod ~~the~~for ~~registrant~~complying ~~under~~with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the ~~following~~Exchange ~~provisions:~~Act.

~~o Written~~The ~~communications~~Empire ~~pursuant~~District toElectric ~~Rule 425~~Company ~~under~~¨ ~~the~~Empire ~~Securities~~District ~~Act~~Bondco, ~~(17~~LLC ~~CFR 230.425)~~¨

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

Co-Registrant CIK	0001994341
Co-Registrant Amendment Flag	false
Co-Registrant Form Type	8-K
Co-Registrant DocumentperiodEndDate	2024-01-18
Co-Registrant Written Commuunications	false
Co-Registrant Solicitating Materials	false
Co-Registrant PreCommencement Tender Offer	false
Co-Registrant Entity PreCommencement Issuer Tender Offer	false

~~o Pre-commencement~~Item ~~communications~~8.01. ~~pursuant~~Other ~~to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))~~Events

~~o Pre~~On January 18, 2024, The Empire District Electric Company (the “Utility”) and Empire District Bondco, LLC (the “Issuing Entity”) entered into an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and RBC Capital Markets, LLC, as the underwriters, with respect to the purchase and sale of $305,490,000 of Securitized Utility Tariff Bonds, Series 2024-~~commencement~~A (the ~~communications~~“Bonds”), to be issued by the Issuing Entity pursuant to ~~Rule~~an Indenture and Series ~~13e-4~~Supplement (ctogether, the “Indenture”), each to be dated as of January ~~under~~30, 2024, the ~~Exchange~~forms ~~Act~~of ~~(17~~which ~~CFR~~are ~~240~~annexed hereto as Exhibits 4.~~13e-~~1 and 4.2, respectively. The Bonds were offered pursuant to the prospectus dated January 18, 2024 (cthe “Prospectus”)). In connection with the issuance of the Bonds, the Utility and the Issuing Entity also expect to enter into a Securitized Utility Tariff Property Servicing Agreement, Securitized Utility Tariff Property Purchase and Sale Agreement, and Administration Agreement, each to be dated as of January 30, 2024, the forms of which are annexed hereto as Exhibits 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3, respectively, and the Underwriting Agreement is annexed hereto as Exhibit 1.1.

~~Item~~Additionally, 2effective as of January 17, 2024, the Issuing Entity adopted an Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement (the “A&R LLC Agreement”) in connection with the issuance of the Bonds.01 ~~Completion~~The A&R LLC Agreement, which is described in the Prospectus, was previously approved by the Utility, the sole member of ~~Acquisition~~the orIssuing ~~Disposition~~Entity. The description of ~~Assets~~the A&R LLC Agreement in the Prospectus is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the A&R LLC Agreement, which is annexed hereto as Exhibit 3.2 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated by reference herein.

OnItem January 1, 2017 (the “Closing Date”), Liberty Utilities (Central) Co. (“Liberty Central”) (an indirect subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (“Algonquin”)) completed its previously announced acquisition of The Empire District Electric Company (“Empire”) through a merger (the “Merger”) of Liberty Sub Corp. (“Merger Sub”), a wholly owned direct subsidiary of Liberty Central, with and into Empire pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 9~~, 2016, by and among Empire, Liberty Central, and Merger Sub (the “Merger Agreement”)~~. ~~As a result of the Merger, Empire became a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Central effective at approximately 12:~~01 a.~~m. Central~~ ~~Standard~~Financial ~~Time~~Statements ~~(the~~and ~~“Effective Time”) on the Closing Date.~~Exhibits

~~Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the Effective Time:~~(d) Exhibits.

· each issued and outstanding share of Empire common stock (other than any shares owned by Empire or Algonquin or any of their respective subsidiaries or any shares for which appraisal rights have been perfected) was canceled and converted automatically into the right to receive $34.00 in cash, without interest (the “Merger Consideration”);

Exhibit No.		Description
1.1		Underwriting Agreement among Empire District Bondco, LLC, The Empire District Electric Company and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and RBC Capital Markets, LLC, as the Underwriters party thereto, dated January 18, 2024

3.2		Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of Empire District Bondco, LLC, to be dated as of January 17, 2024

4.1		Form of Indenture between Empire District Bondco, LLC and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., to be dated as of January 30, 2024

4.2		Form of Series Supplement between Empire District Bondco, LLC and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. (including forms of the Bonds), to be dated as of January 30, 2024

10.1		Form of Securitized Utility Tariff Property Servicing Agreement between Empire District Bondco, LLC and The Empire District Electric Company, as Servicer, to be dated as of January 30, 2024

10.2		Form of Securitized Utility Tariff Property Purchase and Sale Agreement between Empire District Bondco, LLC and The Empire District Electric Company, as Seller, to be dated as of January 30, 2024

10.3		Form of Administration Agreement between Empire District Bondco, LLC and The Empire District Electric Company, as Administrator, to be dated as of January 30, 2024

104		Cover Page Interactive Data File – the cover page XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document

· each outstanding time-vested restricted stock award was canceled and converted into the right to receive a lump-sum cash payment equal to the product of (i) the Merger Consideration, without interest, multiplied by (ii) the product of (1) the total number of shares of Empire’s common stock underlying such time-vested restricted stock award, multiplied by (2) the ratio equal to (x) the number of months through the closing date of the Merger (rounding a fraction of a month to the next higher number of whole months) in the restricted period under such time-vested restricted stock award, divided by (y) the total number of months in the restricted period under such time-vested restricted stock award;SIGNATURES

~~· each~~Pursuant ~~outstanding performance based restricted stock award was canceled and converted into the right~~ to ~~receive a lump-sum cash payment equal to~~ the ~~product~~requirements of ~~(i)~~ the ~~Merger~~Securities ~~Consideration,~~Exchange ~~without~~Act ~~interest,~~of ~~multiplied by (ii)~~ 1934, the ~~total~~registrants ~~number~~have ofduly ~~shares~~caused ofthis ~~Empire’s~~report ~~common~~to ~~stock that would~~ be ~~earned~~signed ~~for~~on ~~performance~~their atbehalf ~~target~~by ~~over~~ the ~~performance~~undersigned ~~period~~thereunto ~~under~~duly ~~such performance based restricted stock award; and~~authorized.

· each outstanding common stock unit granted under Empire’s director stock unit plan was canceled and converted into the right to receive an amount in cash equal to the Merger Consideration, payment of which amount shall be made at the time elected or provided pursuant to the terms and conditions of such director stock unit, together with interest at the “U.S. Prime Rate” as quoted by the Wall Street Journal from the Effective Time until the date of payment of such amount.

	THE EMPIRE DISTRICT ELECTRIC COMPANY

	By:	/s/ Kevin Noblet
		Kevin Noblet
		President

	By:	/s/ Jennifer Shewmake
		Jennifer Shewmake
Dated: January 22, 2024		Treasurer and Secretary

	EMPIRE DISTRICT BONDCO, LLC

	By:	/s/ Kevin Noblet
		Kevin Noblet
		Manager and President

	By:	/s/ Jennifer Shewmake
		Jennifer Shewmake
Dated: January 22, 2024		Manager, Secretary and Treasurer

In addition, effective as of the opening of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) on January 3, 2017, the shares of Empire common stock, which traded under the symbol “EDE”, were suspended from trading on the NYSE. On January 3, 2017, Empire requested that the NYSE file with the Securities and Exchange Commission an application on Form 25 to delist the Empire common stock from the NYSE and deregister the Empire common stock under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

The foregoing description of the Merger Agreement does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Merger Agreement, which is included as Exhibit 2.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 3.01 Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing

The information under Item 2.01 is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 3.03 Material Modification to Rights of Security Holders

The information under Item 2.01 is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 5.01 Changes in Control of Registrant

As a result of the Merger, a change of control of Empire occurred, causing Empire to become a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Central. The information under Item 2.01 is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 5.03 Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws, Change in Fiscal Year

At the Effective Time and pursuant to the Merger Agreement, (i) the articles of incorporation of Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time became the articles of incorporation of Empire, as the surviving corporation in the Merger, and (ii) the bylaws of Merger Sub immediately prior to the Effective Time became the bylaws of Empire, as the surviving corporation in the Merger. Copies of the articles of incorporation and bylaws of Empire after giving effect to the Merger are included as Exhibit 3.1 and Exhibit 3.2, respectively, to this Current Report on Form 8-K and are incorporated by reference herein.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

Exhibit No.		Description
2.1		Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 9, 2016, by and among The Empire District Electric Company, Liberty Utilities (Central) Co. and Liberty Sub Corp. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to Current Report on Form 8-K dated and filed February 9, 2016, File No. 1-3368)
3.1		Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of The Empire District Electric Company
3.2		Amended and Restated By-laws of The Empire District Electric Company

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	THE EMPIRE DISTRICT ELECTRIC COMPANY
Dated: January 5, 2017
	By:	/s/ Laurie A. Delano
	Name:	Laurie A. Delano
	Title:	Vice President-Finance and Chief Financial Officer

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.		Description
2.1		Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 9, 2016, by and among The Empire District Electric Company, Liberty Utilities (Central) Co. and Liberty Sub Corp. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to Current Report on Form 8-K dated and filed February 9, 2016, File No. 1-3368)
3.1		Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of The Empire District Electric Company
3.2		Amended and Restated By-laws of The Empire District Electric Company

Filing Compare · EMPIRE DISTRICT ELECTRIC CO