Moody’s Investor Services has upgraded Greenville Utilities Commission’s already strong credit rating to ‘Aa1’ with a stable outlook in advance of upcoming bond sales. Fellow global rating agency Fitch Ratings affirmed GUC’s credit rating of ‘AA-’. Both ratings are considered “High Grade” and should help GUC at the time of the bond sales.
“Boosting or maintaining our credit rating is important because it allows us to achieve lower interest rates when we sell bonds to make needed improvements and upgrades to our infrastructure,” said GUC General Manager/CEO Tony Cannon. “Those lower rates mean we, and in the end our customers, pay less on the money we borrow. That is critical for us to be able to meet our mission of safely providing reliable utility solutions at the lowest reasonable cost.”
Moody’s upgrade reflects their findings of the Commission’s “continued sound operating results and conservative management.” The high ratings also reflect GUC’s comprehensive long-range financial planning, moderate but manageable debt burden, and stable service area. Additional key factors are conservative management, diverse combined utility revenue streams, regional service provisions, and the elimination of generation risk following the sale of the system’s stake in NCEMPA generation ownership assets in 2015. The ability of the GUC Board to change rates with a 10-day notice was noted by Fitch as providing the Commission with “strong rate flexibility,” another significant component in receiving the high ratings from the credit rating agencies.
Earlier this month, a team from GUC visited with Moody’s and Fitch in order to receive a rating for the upcoming bond sale. These visits are routinely conducted to update each agency on GUC’s leadership, strategic vision, status of operations, five-year financial forecast, financial viability, regional economy and the utility’s ability to meet customers’ needs.
GUC is scheduled to sell bonds later this month to help finance upcoming system improvements included in the Capital Improvements Plan.