Fitch Ratings Comments on Hurricane Damages and Public Power Credits.

NEW YORK -- In recent weeks, hurricanes Charley and Frances have caused significant damage to homes and businesses and disrupted electricity supply to millions of Florida residents. Fitch currently rates fifteen public power and municipal electric systems throughout Florida (listed below). Fitch believes each of these systems maintain liquidity that is sufficient to mitigate the near-term consequences of the recent events and that there should not be any long-term issues resulting from these storms.

Fitch rates each of the Florida public power systems at 'A-' or higher (see below). These ratings are indicative of solid financial profiles that include independent rate setting ability, cash reserves, and access to capital (banks or capital markets). Moreover, many of these expenses associated with restoration costs are expected to be reimbursed from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other private and public sources.

Over the next several weeks, Fitch will monitor these credits to assess any long-term implications to their credit including if the outages last more than expected, if restoration costs deplete existing reserves, and if reimbursements levels are not as expected. If these events occur, some electric systems may need to adjust their rates to replenish cash reserves to prepare for future storms or other unexpected costs.

Fitch rated public power systems in Florida include:

--Florida Municipal Power Authority (All-Requirement Project) ('A+');

--Florida Municipal Power Authority (Stanton II) ('A+');

--Florida Municipal Power Authority (Tri City Project) ('A+');

--Florida Municipal Power Authority (Stanton I) ('A+');

--Florida Municipal Power Authority (St. Lucie Project) ('A-');

--Fort Pierce Utilities ('A-');

--Jacksonville Beach Combined Utility System ('A+');

--JEA (Electric) ('AA+/AA');

--Kissimmee Utility Authority ('A');

--Lakeland, Florida Electric and Water Utility ('AA-');

--Leesburg, Florida ('A-');

--Orlando Utilities Commission ('AA');

--St. Cloud, FL Utility System ('AA');

--Tallahassee Energy System ('AA-') 'Fl';

--Vero Beach ('A-').

Fitch has commented in a separate press release today on the position of investor-owned utility companies in the same region.