...Ratings Linkage: The legal ownership structure and lack of explicit ring-fencing between Indianapolis Power & Light Company (IPL) and its parent, IPALCO Enterprises, Inc. (IPALCO), are key reasons for linking IPL's Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to the IDR of IPALCO. Fitch Ratings places IPL's IDR one notch higher than IPALCO's due to its low-risk business profile and moderate capital structure High Capex: The intensity of the current capex cycle at IPL is expected to rise. IPL's current capex plans include retrofitting most of its economical coal-fired electricity generation units with new emission-control equipment and replacing its inefficient generation units with new capacity. IPL has received a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to build a new 650-MW combined-cycle gas turbine plant and to convert 200 MW of its coal-fired units to natural gas. GRC Supports Credit Profile: A recently filed general rate case (GRC)...
