AES - AES Ohio outlook turns negative on uncertain regulatory support Moody's says

Moody's downgraded its outlook for AES Corp. ( NYSE: AES ) subsidiaries DPL and Dayton Power & Light to negative from stable, citing factors including concerns about the slow pace of a pending $120M/year rate case as well as "persistently weak" consolidated financial performance, Utility Dive reported Monday.

Moody's also noted the utility's unexpectedly early filing of an "energy security plan," called ESP 4, in which AES Ohio ( AES ) would stop collecting $70M-$75M/year in rate stabilization charges.

"The potential for a rate freeze, along with DP&L's unexpectedly early filing of its ESP 4, has heightened uncertainty around the predictability of the utility's regulatory environment and the constructiveness of the utility's relationship with stakeholders, two key drivers of DPL and DP&L's current ratings," Moody's analysts said.

"We would view any rate freeze implemented for the utility as credit negative, particularly considering the current high inflation and rising interest rate environment," the ratings agency said.

AES Corp. ( AES ) has a far broader role in electrical energy than the typical locally-oriented utility, Peter F. Way writes in an analysis published recently on Seeking Alpha .

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