Fitch Rates Toledo Edison's $300MM Senior Notes 'BB+'; Outlook Positive.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 assigned a 'BB+' rating to Toledo Edison Company's (TE) $300 million 6.15% senior unsecured notes due 2037. The Rating Outlook is Positive. Proceeds from the debt offering are expected to be used to redeem all of TE's outstanding preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. , a portion of TE's common stock from its corporate parent, FirstEnergy Corp (FE; Issuer Default Rating [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. ] 'BBB-' with a Positive Rating Outlook by Fitch), and for general corporate purposes. The ratings and Positive Outlook reflect TE's relatively stable operating cash flows, a balanced Ohio regulatory environment and assumes that the utility's credit metrics will remain supportive of current or higher credit ratings upon completion of the financial restructuring currently underway at the FE family of companies. In addition, the ratings consider the January 2006 approval of TE's rate certainty plan by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) is an agency of Federal State of Ohio that is charged with the regulation of utility service providers such as those of electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications as well as railroad safety and intrastate hazardous . Fitch also considers the effect of certain joint and several obligations with affiliate Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (IDR 'BB' with a Positive Outlook) and anticipates continued reasonable regulatory outcomes in Ohio. TE's rate certainty plan and supply contract with FES substantially mitigates its power supply cost exposure, in Fitch's opinion. The primary concern for TE fixed income investors is the uncertain outlook for development of effective post-2008 Ohio power supply markets and the potential erosion of political support for recovery of prudently incurred costs in a high and rising commodity cost environment. 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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