Fitch Rates San Diego Gas & Electric Mortgage Bonds 'AA'.CHICAGO -- Fitch has assigned an 'AA' rating to San Diego Gas & Electric Company's issuance of $250 million first mortgage bonds 5.30% series due Nov. 15, 2015. The bonds are secured by a lien on property with a net book value of $3.3 billion as of Sept. 30, 2005. Proceeds from the sale will be used to improve and expand utility plant. The Rating Outlook is Stable. Existing utility plant consists of the electric distribution system and the gas distribution system primarily located in San Diego County. San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) also owns a 20% interest in a nuclear generation facility. The California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC; also often commonly referred to as simply the PUC) [1] is a state Public Utilities Commission which regulates privately-owned utilities in the state of California, including electric power, has approved SDG&E's plans to invest $700 million in new generation and transmission. SDG&E's ratings reflect the utility's strong financial performance, limited commodity price exposure, and the improving California regulatory environment. SDG&E's ratings are not currently constrained either by the rating of its parent Sempra Energy (senior unsecured debt Unsecured debt Debt that does not identify specific assets that the debtholder is entitled to in case of default. rated 'A' by Fitch; Stable Outlook) or its affiliate Southern California Gas This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Company (senior unsecured debt rated 'AA-' by Fitch; Stable Outlook). Total debt after issuance will be approximately $1.4 billion. On a pro forma basis, the debt issuance will increase SDG&E's total debt to total capitalization ratio to 48% from 43%, and total debt to cash flow from operations Cash flow from operations A firm's net cash inflow resulting directly from its regular operations (disregarding extraordinary items such as the sale of fixed assets or transaction costs associated with issuing securities), calculated as the sum of net income plus noncash expenses to 3.2 times (x) from 2.6x for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2005. SDG&E is a regulated utility that provides electric and gas service to approximately 3.3 million customers in San Diego and southern Orange counties in California The U.S. state of California is divided into fifty-eight counties. Counties are responsible for all elections, property-tax collection, maintenance of public records such as deeds, and local-level courts within their borders, as well as providing law enforcement (through the county . 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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