On Sept. 16, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BB' long-term corporate credit rating on electric utility Tucson Electric Power Co. (TEP), a wholly owned subsidiary of UniSource Energy Corp. (unrated), and revised the outlook on TEP to negative from stable. Standard&Poor's also lowered its short-term corporate credit rating on TEP to 'B-2' from 'B-1'. As of June 30, 2005, the Tucson, Ariz.-based company had $1.7 billion of consolidated debt outstanding. The revised outlook reflects expectations that UniSource's consolidated financial performance in 2005, and perhaps beyond, may be weaker than expected. In addition, near-term event risk has increased due to uncertainty over how much and over what time frame state regulators will allow TEP's utility affiliate,
