Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'A-' issuer credit rating (ICR) to San Miguel Electric Cooperative, Inc. The outlook is stable. The Jourdanton, Texas generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative had $183 million in debt outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2006, consisting of $93 million in Rural Utility Service (RUS) mortgage notes, $77 million in pollution control bonds, and $13 million in current maturities. San Miguel's credit rating reflects a number of credit strengths, including: Take-or-pay wholesale power contracts through mid-2020 with two credit-worthy counterparties for the output of San Miguel's single coal plant; the off-takers are obligated to make capacity payments to the G&T irrespective of the plant's operational status; Generation costs that averaged around $34/megawatt-hour (MWh) in 2006,
