Approximately $6.1 billion of debt securities placed on review
New York, January 29, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") placed
the long-term ratings of San Diego Gas & Electric Company
(SDG&E), including its Baa1 Issuer Rating (see full debt list
below), on review for upgrade. SDG&E's Prime-2
short-term commercial paper rating is affirmed.
RATINGS RATIONALE / FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
"The review for upgrade will consider SDG&E's wildfire risk
mitigation practices that have helped the utility avoid involvement in
the ignition of wildfires in recent years, particularly considering
the challenging weather and climatic conditions that affected California
during 2020" said Natividad Martel, Vice President --
Senior Analyst. "We will also factor in the credit support
provided by wildfire fund legislation enacted in July 2019 and SDG&E's
ability to secure the required safety certification in September 2020
to access the fund" added Martel. The review will consider
how much these regulatory features have reduced SDG&E's exposure
to wildfire risk, a key environmental consideration and an important
driver of the organization's credit quality.
The review for upgrade will also focus on SDG&E's ability to
report robust credit metrics, specifically that its ratio of CFO
pre-W/C to debt will continue to exceed 20%, on a
sustained basis. To that end, we will consider the pending
order regarding the utility's 2022 and 2023 rates following the
California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) decision to implement
a four-year general rate case cycle for SDG&E, as well
as any updates to the utility's capital expenditure program.
The affirmation of SDG&E's P-2 short-term rating
factors in the utility's strong liquidity profile that is underpinned
by stable cash flow generation and its $1.5 billion credit
facility that is scheduled to expire in 2024. At the end of September
2020, the facility was fully available following the repayment of
previously outstanding borrowings using the net proceeds from its $400
million first mortgage bond (FMB) issuance in April 2020 and a $200
million 364-day term loan entered into in March 2020. This
term loan, due in March 2021, and a $350 million FMB
due in August 2021, represent the utility's next debt maturities.
On Review for Upgrade:
..Issuer: San Diego Gas & Electric Company
....Issuer Rating, Placed on Review
for Upgrade, currently Baa1
....Senior Secured Shelf, Placed on
Review for Upgrade, currently (P)A2
....Senior Unsecured Shelf, Placed on
Review for Upgrade, currently (P)Baa1
....Preferred Shelf, Placed on Review
for Upgrade, currently (P)Baa3
....Preferred Shelf Non-Cumulative,
Placed on Review for Upgrade, currently (P)Baa3
....Senior Secured First Mortgage Bonds,
Placed on Review for Upgrade, currently A2
Affirmations:
..Issuer: San Diego Gas & Electric Company
....Senior Unsecured Commercial Paper,
Affirmed P-2
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: San Diego Gas & Electric Company
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Positive
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Regulated Electric
and Gas Utilities published in June 2017 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1072530.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's
Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security 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.
The ratings have been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated
agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
These ratings are solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
its website www.moodys.com.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1243406.
At least one ESG consideration was material to the credit rating action(s)
announced and described above.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed
by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt
am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed
by Moody's Investors Service Limited, One Canada Square,
Canary Wharf, London E14 5FA under the law applicable to credit
rating agencies in the UK. Further information on the UK endorsement
status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is
available on www.moodys.com.
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.
Natividad Martel
Vice President - Senior Analyst
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