S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'A' issue-level and '1+' recovery ratings to regulated utility Evergy Missouri West Inc.'s (EMW's) first-mortgage bonds (FMBs). We also assigned an 'A-2' short-term issuer credit rating to EMW. The '1+' recovery rating indicates our highest expectation of full recovery for lenders in the event of a payment default due to the significant overcollateralization of more than 150%. The rating on the first mortgage bonds is one notch higher than the rating on EMW's issuer credit rating of 'A-', reflecting the benefit from a first-priority lien on substantially all of the utility's real property owned or subsequently acquired. We expect the company to use the proceeds from the FMBs for general corporate purposes and to
