Standard&Poor's Ratings Services rates U.S. electricity generator Panoche Energy Center LLC's $321 million ($311.7 million outstanding as of June 30, 2011) senior secured bonds due in July 2029 'BBB-'. The outlook on the rating 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 the plant's construction, and will repay the debt with revenues it plans to earn through a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas&Electric Co. (PG&E; BBB+/Negative/A-2). Kiewit
