Research Update: CMS Energy Corp. Rating Affirmed And Consumers Energy Co. Upgraded To 'A-' Following Criteria Review

We have reviewed our ratings on Consumers Energy Co., which we placed under criteria observation after publishing our revised "Group Ratings Methodology" criteria on July 1, 2019. Following this review, we concluded that the cumulative value of Consumers Energy's structural protections vis-à-vis CMS Energy Corp. are sufficient to insulate our issuer credit rating on the company from the credit profile of its parent. As such, we are raising our , issuer credit rating on Consumers Energy to 'A-' from 'BBB+'. The issue-level ratings on the company's senior secured debt and commercial paper remain unchanged at 'A' and 'A-2', respectively. We are also affirming the 'BBB+' issuer credit rating on CMS Energy. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Consumers Energy

...- We have reviewed our ratings on Consumers Energy Co., which we placed under criteria observation after publishing our revised "Group Ratings Methodology" criteria on July 1, 2019. - Following this review, we concluded that the cumulative value of Consumers Energy's structural protections vis-a-vis CMS Energy Corp. are sufficient to insulate our issuer credit rating on the company from the credit profile of its parent. - As such, we are raising our , issuer credit rating on Consumers Energy to 'A-' from '###+'. The issue-level ratings on the company's senior secured debt and commercial paper remain unchanged at 'A' and 'A-2', respectively. - We are also affirming the '###+' issuer credit rating on CMS Energy. - The stable outlook reflects our expectation that Consumers Energy will continue to manage its regulatory risk in line with its peers and maintain financial measures consistent with a significant financial risk profile, specifically an FFO-to-debt ratio averaging 19%. Furthermore,...

Research Update