Fitch: Public Power & Electric Cooperative Sectors Continue to Weather Economic Storm.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Fitch Ratings' outlook for the public power and electric cooperative sectors continues to be stable despite the pressures that correspond with the national economic recession. In its 'Public Power 2009 Mid-Year Review', Fitch says an economic downturn that has led to energy consumption declines, the need for rate increases in a difficult economic climate and limited access to external liquidity are just some of the current pressures on the sectors; however, they are not significantly affecting their credit quality. Fitch nonetheless notes that events in the next five to 10 years primarily related to expected environmental legislation could increase the cost structures of many electric utilities and potentially place pressures on credit ratings. 'The financial market disruptions Market Disruption A situation where markets cease to function in a regular manner, typically characterized by rapid and large market declines. Market disruptions can result from both physical threats to the stock exchange or a unusual trading (as in a crash). have not resulted in material credit pressure for the public power and electric cooperative sectors,' said Kathryn Masterson, senior director at Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. . 'Both sectors have retained their stable outlooks although we recognize that increasingly negative market and industry factors could adversely impact some systems more than others.' Overall, the sectors continue to maintain solid credit fundamentals including local control over rate-setting without state commission oversight, a cost advantage compared with neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. investor-owned utilities, and benefits associated with predominantly pre·dom·i·nant adj. 1. Having greatest ascendancy, importance, influence, authority, or force. See Synonyms at dominant. 2. residential and commercial customer bases. Fitch expects that the average ratings for wholesale and retail utility systems, including electric cooperatives, will continue to be 'A' and 'A+', respectively. Fitch's 'Public Power 2009 Mid-Year Review' is available on the company's web site at www.fitchratings.com. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion