High credit ratings for three other FMPA projects affirmed by Moody’s

ORLANDO, Fla., March 22, 2016 – A credit rating upgrade was awarded to a Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) electricity supply project and the high credit ratings for three other FMPA projects were affirmed.

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded FMPA’s Tri-City Project to A1 from A2, which means the project’s debt is high grade and subject to low credit risk.

“It’s not easy to get an upgrade,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Nicholas Guarriello, “so this is very good news about the credit quality of our project from a respected independent authority.”

In addition, Moody’s affirmed the A1 ratings for FMPA’s Stanton Project and Stanton II Project, as well as the A2 rating for FMPA’s St. Lucie Project. The rating outlook for all four projects is considered “stable” by Moody’s, a leading provider of credit ratings, research and risk analysis.

According to Moody’s, the Tri-City upgrade was influenced by:

• Improved credit quality of the cities that purchase from Tri-City.
• Florida’s recovering economy.
• Solid Tri-City cash flow.
• Sound legal security for FMPA’s Tri-City contracts.
• Good economics and performance of Tri-City.

The Tri-City Project is an ownership interest in a coal-fired power plant. The Tri-City Project serves the cities of Key West, Fort Pierce and Homestead.

Moody’s is the second credit rating agency in recent weeks to assign a high credit rating to FMPA’s power supply projects. Fitch Ratings on March 9 affirmed the A+ credit rating of the Stanton, Stanton II and Tri-City projects and the A rating of the St. Lucie Project.

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Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) is a wholesale power company owned by 31 municipal electric utilities. FMPA provides economies of scale in power generation and related services to support community-owned electric utilities. The members of FMPA serve approximately two million Floridians.