Fitch Ratings has downgraded the following ratings for the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA):
--$126,300,000 facilities revenue bonds, series 2005A (Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Project) to 'AA-/F1+' from 'AA+/F1+';
--$99,000,000 NYSERDA facilities revenue bonds, series 2004C (Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Project) to 'AA/F1+' from 'AAA/F1+'.
The downgrades in the long-term ratings assigned to these two transactions follows the downgrade of Con Edison ratings by Fitch on March 28. ('Fitch Completes Review of Con Ed Inc. Group; Resolves Rtg Watch' is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at www.fitchratings.com).
For each of these series of bonds, the long-term ratings were based jointly on the long-term ratings assigned to Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. and the support provided by an irrevocable letter of credit (LOC). For the series 2005A bonds, Wachovia Bank, National Association (rated 'AA-/F1+' by Fitch) is the issuer of the LOC supporting those bonds. For the 2004C bonds, the LOC is provided by Citibank, N.A. (rated 'AA/F1+' by Fitch). Citibank's 'AA' long-term IDR is on Rating Watch Negative as of March 7. With the downgrade of Con Edison Company of New York to 'A-' from 'A', both series of bonds no longer qualify for the application of Fitch's two-party pay analysis. The long-term ratings on these two series of bonds now reflect those of the senior unsecured long-term ratings of the banks providing the LOCs supporting the bonds of each respective series. The short-term rating 'F1+' assigned to the bonds of both series continues to be based solely on the LOCs.
Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.
Contacts:
Trudy Zibit, 212-908-0689
Linda
Friedman, 212-908-0727
or
Media Relations:
Cindy Stoller,
212-908-0526
