Fitch Affirms OGE Energy Corp.'s L-T IDR at 'A'.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 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. has affirmed its ratings on OGE OGE Office of Government Ethics OGE Oklahoma Gas and Electric OGE Out of Ground Effect OGE Operational Ground Equipment OGE Outdoor Gear Exchange OGE Österreichische Gesellschaft für Erdbebeningenieurwesen Und Baudynamik Energy Corp. (OGE) and its subsidiaries, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. (OG&E) and Enogex, Inc. (Enogex) as follows: OGE Energy Corp. (OGE) --Long-term IDR IDR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. affirmed at 'A'; --Senior unsecured debt Unsecured debt Debt that does not identify specific assets that the debtholder is entitled to in case of default. affirmed at 'A'. --Short-term IDR affirmed at 'F1'. --Commercial Paper (CP) affirmed at 'F1'. Enogex Inc. --Long-term IDR affirmed at 'BBB'; --Senior unsecured debt affirmed at 'BBB'. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. (OG&E) --Long-term IDR affirmed at 'A+'; --Senior unsecured debt affirmed at 'AA-'. --Short-term IDR affirmed at 'F1'. The Rating Outlook is Stable. Approximately $1.3 billion of debt is affected. The ratings for OGE reflect the strong and stable cash flow from the company's regulated operations and its unregulated subsidiaries and the low degree of consolidated financial leverage at the parent company. OGE's ratings and outlook take into consideration the higher risk nature of the non-regulated natural gas related activities at Enogex. OG&E's ratings are reflective of the stable cash flows and credit metrics reflect the standalone credit profile of the utility. Fitch recognizes that the recent cancellation of plans to build a coal fire power plant highlights the need for OG&E to re-evaluate its options for securing needed increases in base-load capacity from 2011 and beyond, but does not believe that the cancellation has any material impact on ratings. On September 10, 2007 the Oklahoma Corporation Commission The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is a state agency, run by three commissioners, with 600 employees. It regulates oil and gas drilling, utilities and telephone companies. The current Commissioners are Bob Anthony, Jeff Cloud, and Jim Roth. (OCC OCC See: Options Clearing Corporation OCC See Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). ) denied OG&E pre-approval application for its proposed 950MW coal fired Red Rock power plant. Fitch notes that OG&E has always been prudently managed from a credit perspective and expects that prudency to continue with regard to whatever alternative plans the company plans to take. The ratings at Enogex reflect the significant improvements in operating performance that the company has recorded in recent years. Enogex has successfully focused on reducing debt levels and restructuring the composition and terms of its processing contracts to significantly decrease the downside risk of negative commodity margins. While Enogex's earnings and cash flow are levered to increases in commodity prices, its exposure to declines in commodity prices is meaningfully lower than it has been in recent years and favorable fractionation fractionation /frac·tion·a·tion/ (frak?shun-a´shun) 1. in radiology, division of the total dose of radiation into small doses administered at intervals. 2. spreads have been driving the company's current profitability. Enogex's current credit metrics remain appropriate for the ratings category and reflective of the current corporate structure. OGE announced on September 6, 2007 in an 8-K filing that it continues to evaluate strategic alternatives for Enogex, including the status quo, other transactions that OGE believes could provide long-term value to its shareowners and the contemplated initial public offering. 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. |
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