Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'A+' rating to Southern California Gas Co.'s (SoCal Gas; A/Stable/A-1) upcoming $100 million first mortgage bonds, series JJ, due 2009. (SoCal is a subsidiary of San Diego-based Sempra Energy.) The rating is notched above the corporate credit rating to reflect the overcollateralization of first mortgage bonds by the utility's property. The bonds have also been assigned a '1+' recovery rating, indicating the highest expectation of full recovery of principal, because utility property will cover the maximum amount of first mortgage bonds that could be outstanding under the terms of the indenture by at least 2.0x. The net proceeds from the sale of the series JJ bonds will be for general corporate purposes.
