Approximately $16 billion of debt affected
New York, January 24, 2019 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") today placed
the ratings of Edison International (Edison, Baa1) and the long-term
ratings of Southern California Edison Company (SCE, A3) under review
for downgrade. SCE's Prime-2 short-term rating
for commercial paper is affirmed.
On Review for Downgrade:
..Issuer: Edison International
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently Baa1
.... Senior Unsecured Bank Credit Facility,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Baa1
.... Commercial Paper, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently P-2
.... Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently Baa1
.... Senior Unsecured Shelf, Placed
on Review for Downgrade, currently (P)Baa1
..Issuer: Southern California Edison Company
.... Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently A3
.... Senior Secured Shelf, Placed on
Review for Downgrade, currently (P)A1
.... Senior Unsecured Shelf, Placed
on Review for Downgrade, currently (P)A3
.... Pref. Shelf, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently (P)Baa2
.... Pref. Stock, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently Baa2
.... Senior Secured First Mortgage Bonds,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A1
.... Underlying Senior Secured First Mortgage
Bonds, Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A1
.... Senior Unsecured Bank Credit Facility,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A3
.... Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A3
..Issuer: California Statewide Communities Dev.
Auth.
.... Senior Secured Revenue Bonds, Placed
on Review for Downgrade, currently A1
.... Underlying Senior Secured Revenue Bonds,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A1
..Issuer: Farmington (City of) NM
.... Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A3
.... Underlying Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A3
.... Senior Secured Revenue Bonds, Placed
on Review for Downgrade, currently A1
..Issuer: California Pollution Control Financing Auth.
.... Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A3
.... Underlying Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A3
..Issuer: Maricopa (County of) AZ, Poll.
Ctrl. Corp.
.... Senior Secured Revenue Bonds, Placed
on Review for Downgrade, currently A1
..Issuer: CLARK (COUNTY OF) NV
.... Senior Secured Revenue Bonds, Placed
on Review for Downgrade, currently A1
.... Senior Unsecured Revenue Bonds,
Placed on Review for Downgrade, currently A3
..Issuer: SCE Trust II
.... Pref. Stock, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently Baa2
..Issuer: SCE Trust III
.... Pref. Stock, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently Baa2
..Issuer: SCE Trust IV
.... Pref. Stock, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently Baa2
..Issuer: SCE TRUST V
.... Pref. Stock, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently Baa2
..Issuer: SCE Trust VI
.... Pref. Stock, Placed on Review
for Downgrade, currently Baa2
Affirmations:
..Issuer: Southern California Edison Company
....Commercial Paper, Affirmed P-2
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Edison International
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Negative
..Issuer: Southern California Edison Company
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Negative
..Issuer: SCE Trust II
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Negative
..Issuer: SCE Trust III
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Negative
..Issuer: SCE Trust IV
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Negative
..Issuer: SCE TRUST V
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Negative
..Issuer: SCE Trust VI
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Negative
RATINGS RATIONALE
"We are reevaluating the risks associated with the magnitude of
exposure and liabilities related to wildfires affecting investor-owned
utilities in California." said Toby Shea, VP --
Senior Credit Officer "With climate change exacerbating the financial
and economic damages associated with these wildfires, and regulatory
and legislative efforts to address inverse condemnation still evolving,
uncertainties at Edison and SCE have increased."
Our review will focus on the regulatory, legislative and political
environment in California and the progress being made to mitigate or eliminate
the impact of California's inverse condemnation legal doctrine that
holds investor owned electric utilities to a strict liability standard
when their equipment is the approximate cause of a wildfire, regardless
of fault. The review will also consider the California Public Utility
Commission's (CPUC) prudency review process for passing on wildfire
costs to ratepayers and the likelihood that the CPUC will allow utilities
to recover costs associated with both past and future wildfires.
The review will consider the extent of past wildfire liabilities affecting
SCE, the amount of insurance coverage being maintained by the organization,
the company's service territory characteristics and wildfire management
program, and the financial and liquidity profile of the companies
in the face of these challenges.
Company Profile
Headquartered in Rosemead, Edison is a California based electric
utility holding company with its principal subsidiary SCE supplying electric
energy to 5 million customers in central, coastal and southern California.
SCE is predominantly a transmission and distribution company. SCE's
earnings are regulated by California Public Utility Commission and the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Regulated Electric
and Gas Utilities published in June 2017. Please see the Rating
Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to
each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their
credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating.
For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory
disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and
in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to
the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction
structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive
rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further
information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the
respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Toby Shea
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Infrastructure Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Michael G. Haggarty
Associate Managing Director
Infrastructure Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653