MEAG's Project One senior, subordinates raised by Fitch

Fitch Ratings said it raised the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia's $311.4 million of Project One senior lien power revenue bonds to A from A-minus and $1.2 billion of Project One subordinated bonds to A-minus from BBB-plus.

Fitch also upgraded MEAG's $101.1 million of general resolution senior lien power revenue bonds to A from A-minus and $212.7 million of general resolution subordinated bonds to A-minus from BBB-plus.

Additionally, Fitch raised the ratings on MEAG's $83.9 million of combined cycle revenue bonds, Series 2012A and 2020A.

Construction at the Plant Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia.
Georgia Power Company

The rating outlook on all of the bonds is stable.

Fitch said the upgrade of the senior and subordinate bonds "reflects that asymmetric risk associated with nuclear construction cost uncertainty impacting certain Project One participants has lessened as Vogtle Units 3 and 4 approach their scheduled commercial operation dates in 2023.

"As the completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4 nears, the ratings on the Project One bonds is no longer constrained by the asymmetric risk considerations, and the upgrade better aligns the project bond ratings with the credit quality of the Project One participants," Fitch said.

The same case was made for the general resolution and the combined cycle bonds.

MEAG is a public corporation created by the state to provide bulk electric power to municipally owned electric distribution systems. The authority supplies the full energy requirements of 49 systems through a series of power supply projects.

In March, Moody's Investors Service upgraded MEAG's Plant Vogtle Units 3&4 Project J bonds to A3 from Baa1. Moody's revised its outlook to stable from positive at the higher rating.

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