Fitch Rates Delmarva Power & Light's Senior Notes '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 has assigned a rating of 'A-' to Delmarva Power & Light Co.'s (DPL (Digital PowerLine) An earlier technology for transmitting a 1 Mbps data signal over electric power lines from Nortel Networks. It was developed in the late 1990s, but later abandoned due to implementation difficulties. See broadband over power lines. ) $100 million issuance of 5.0% unsecured notes due June 1, 2015. The proceeds will be used to repay outstanding debt. The Rating Outlook is Negative. DPL's rating is supported by the low business risk and stable revenues of its electric and gas distribution operations, hedged commodity price risk, and strong cash flow to interest coverage ratios. Power supply for DPL's standard offer service (SOS SOS, code letters of the international distress signal. The signal is expressed in International Morse code as … — — — … (three dots, three dashes, three dots). ) obligation in its Delaware jurisdiction (accounting for approximately two-thirds of revenues) is being provided by affiliate Conectiv Energy Supply, Inc. (CESI CESI Centro Elettrotecnico Sperimentale Italiano (Italy) CESI Chauffe-Eau Solaire Individuel CESI Centre d'Etudes Superieures Industrielles (French) CESI Canadian Educational Standards Institute ) at fixed rates through May 2006. In Maryland, SOS power is being provided at market-based rates by third-party suppliers. In Virginia, which represents a very small percentage of DPL's consolidated operations, the company is obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to supply default service to customers indefinitely and recently entered into a new contract with CESI to continue to supply needed power through May 2006. Credit concerns for DPL include counterparty risk to CESI and electric distribution tariffs in Delaware and Maryland that remain capped through April 2006 and December 2006, respectively, exposing DPL to some risk if costs escalate. The Negative Rating reflects Fitch's notching policy on subsidiary and parent rating linkage. Though DPL's current ratings reflect its stand-alone credit profile, if parent, PEPCO PEPCO Potomac Electric Power Company (Washington, DC, USA) PEPCO Pakistan Electric Power Company PEPCO Professional Electric Products Company Holdings, Inc. (senior unsecured debt rated 'BBB', Rating Outlook Negative by Fitch), is downgraded, it could adversely affect DPL's ratings. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion