S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'A' issuer credit rating (ICR) on South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC). The outlook is stable. STEC is a generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative, with eight distribution members (under contract through 2049), serving 288,000 retail customers over a broad, low-density service area. The retail base, which is primarily residential, has exhibited more than a decade of strong (but recently slowing) demand growth associated, in part, with the oil and gas exploration at the Eagle Ford Shale. During the recent period of falling oil and gas prices, STEC management reports that demand has held stable. While we note that the members' leading retail customers are tied to this industry, they only make up 21% of STEC load,
