Fitch Rates Nevada Power's $250MM General & Refunding Notes 'BB+'.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 expects to assign a 'BB+' rating to Nevada Power Co.'s (NPC 1. (complexity) NPC - NP-complete. 2. (architecture) NPC - Next Program Counter. ) $250 million general and refunding mortgage notes, Series O, due May 2018. Net proceeds Net Proceeds The amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security. Notes: In the case of an investor selling a security, net proceeds represent the proceeds from the sale minus any trading costs (i.e. commissions). will be used to repay secured industrial revenue bonds and trust preferred securities and reduce borrowings under the company's $600 million working capital facilities. The Rating Outlook is Stable. The notes are being offered in a private placement under Rule 144A Rule 144A A Securities & Exchange Commission rule modifying a two-year holding period requirement on privately placed securities to permit qualified institutional buyers to trade these positions among themselves. of the Securities Act. NPC's ratings and Stable Outlook reflect a more supportive regulatory environment in Nevada, an improving financial profile, adequate system liquidity and the absence of near-term maturities. Primary risks for NPC fixed-income investors include exposure to the wholesale energy markets, high capital spending needs and relatively weak financial metrics. Positively, recent regulatory decisions by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN PUCN Public Utilities Commission of Nevada ) have been constructive for NPC and affiliate Sierra Pacific Power Company. Fitch notes that NPC has a $172 million deferred energy case pending before the PUCN. A decision in the case is expected in the second quarter of 2006. With the recent completion of generating facilities at both the Chuck Lenzie and Harry Allen sites, NPC has continued to reduce its reliance on the wholesale energy markets. The contentious regulatory environment in Nevada that contributed to NPC's financial distress in 2002-2003 has significantly improved over the last two years, in Fitch's view. Since early 2004, NPC has benefited from favorable deferred energy and general rate case rulings by the PUCN and greater coordination between company management and regulators on power and fuel supply procurement issues. Regulatory decisions will remain critical going forward as the utility is expected to consistently file for recovery of capital investments and deferred energy costs. The Stable Outlook assumes NPC will continue to receive reasonable regulatory treatment in future rate filings. 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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