...S&P Global Ratings has raised its issuer credit rating on East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc. (EKPC) to 'A' from 'A-'. The outlook is stable. The upgrade reflects a track record of strong debt service coverage (DSC) during the past five years, a significant departure from insufficient coverage before. We believe that the recent years' strong coverage and improving debt-to-capitalization indicate management's commitment to responding to the regulator's directives to focus on improving financial performance. The EKPC is a generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative. Its 16-member distribution cooperatives serve more than 530,000 retail customers in 87 of Kentucky's 120 counties. In 2015, the cooperative produced 8,619 gigawatt hours (GWh) or 65% of the 13,201 GWh it sold. . Self-production has fallen from 80% in 2014, 86% in 2012 and 91% in 2011. The variations reflect planned and unplanned outages, in addition to opportunities for market purchases from resources with lower variable costs...
