Fitch joins Moody’s in recognizing FMPA’s financial performance and competitive rates

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 15, 2016 – Fitch Ratings last Friday assigned an A+ credit rating to the Florida Municipal Power Agency’s (FMPA) All-Requirements Project with a stable rating outlook.

Fitch pointed to the stable nature of FMPA and its operations as part of the reason for the impressive A+ rating. Fitch noted that FMPA and its members are able to “make timely rate adjustments to recover variable fuel and other operating costs. Importantly, rate adjustments are not regulated by the State’s Public Service Commission.”

Fitch also commented that FMPA’s steady rate competitiveness and satisfactory financial performance helped it lower power costs to the 13 municipal utilities in the All-Requirements Project by 19% in fiscal 2015 compared to fiscal 2014. This has allowed a number of the utilities to maintain retail rates among the lowest in the state, Fitch commented in its rating analysis.

Fitch is the second credit rating agency in recent days to assign a high credit rating to FMPA’s All-Requirements Project. Moody’s Investors Service on Feb. 10 affirmed the A2 credit rating of the All-Requirements Project with a stable rating outlook.

The recent credit rating updates are part of FMPA’s refinancing plans for approximately $425 million of All-Requirements Project Series revenue bonds. The bonds are scheduled to price Feb. 17 via negotiation. The new bonds will refund certain outstanding bonds for interest rate savings.

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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.