Research Update: Public Service Co. Of Colorado Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Stable

We affirmed our ratings on Public Service Co. of Colorado (PSCO), including the 'A-' issuer credit rating and 'A' issue-level and '1+' recovery rating on PSCO's senior secured debt. We revised our assessment of the Colorado regulatory construct and lowered PSCO's competitive position down to strong from excellent. Our business risk assessment remains excellent. The stable outlook on PSCO reflect our views of parent Xcel Energy Inc. (Xcel) and incorporates our expectation that Xcel's management will continue to reach constructive regulatory outcomes to avoid any significant rise in business risk for the regulated utilities. Specifically, our base-case forecast includes consolidated adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt of about 16% and assumes Xcel will continue funding its capital investments in

...- We affirmed our ratings on Public Service Co. of Colorado (PSCO), including the 'A-' issuer credit rating and 'A' issue-level and '1+' recovery rating on PSCO's senior secured debt. - We revised our assessment of the Colorado regulatory construct and lowered PSCO's competitive position down to strong from excellent. Our business risk assessment remains excellent. - The stable outlook on PSCO reflect our views of parent Xcel Energy Inc. (Xcel) and incorporates our expectation that Xcel's management will continue to reach constructive regulatory outcomes to avoid any significant rise in business risk for the regulated utilities. Specifically, our base-case forecast includes consolidated adjusted funds from operations (FFO) to debt of about 16% and assumes Xcel will continue funding its capital investments in a balanced manner to support its capital structure....

Research Update