Standard&Poor's Ratings Services rates U.S. electricity generator Panoche Energy Center LLC's $321 million ($316 million outstanding as of Dec. 31, 2010) senior secured bonds due July 2029 'BBB-'. The outlook is stable. Panoche is a single-purpose, bankruptcy-remote entity that developed, built, owns, and operates an approximately 400 megawatt (MW) combustion turbine power plant about 50 miles west of Fresno, Calif. U.S. Power Fund II L.P., a private equity fund managed by EIF Management LLC (not rated), owns Panoche. Panoche used the debt proceeds to fund construction of the plant, and will repay the debt with revenues it plans to earn through a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E; BBB+/Negative/A-2). Kiewit Power Constructors
