Moody's boosts West Penn Power

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded West Penn Power Co.'s senior unsecured debt to Baa2 from Baa3, and affirmed parent Allegheny Energy, Inc.'s Ba1 senior unsecured ratings and affiliate Potomac Edison Co.'s issuer rating at Baa3.

The agency assigned a Baa2 rating to West Penn's planned $200 million senior unsecured credit facility, a Ba1 rating to Allegheny Energy's planned $250 million senior unsecured credit facility and a Baa3 rating to Potomac Edison 's planned $150 million senior unsecured facility.

The outlook is stable.

"Today's rating action factors in a substantially improved liquidity profile at [Allegheny Energy] and its operating subsidiaries, an expectation that [West Penn] will retain credit metrics in line with other mid-Baa utilities following the transition to market rates for generation in Pennsylvania, and our belief that such transition is likely to occur in a relatively benign way," A.J. Sabatelle, senior vice president of Moody's, said in a statement.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.