GRDA Credit Rating Upgraded to "A-"

The Grand River Dam Authority, a wholesale electricity supplier for Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative in the Grand Lake region, is announcing that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Rating Services has upgraded GRDA’s credit rating. On Monday, S&P announced it was changing GRDA’s credit rating from “BBB+” to “A-”, and improving the outlook from stable to positive. While GRDA has received three rating outlook improvement from rating agencies in recent years, S&P’s announcement is historic, marking the first rating upgrade in GRDA’s history.

“Similar to the three outlook improvements we’ve received since March 2005, this upgrade is proof that the financial community believes GRDA is growing more financially stable,” said GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley.

According to an S&P statement, “the willingness of [GRDA] board members … to strengthen the authority’s financial profile” was a chief factor in the upgrade decision. Long-term partnerships with customers was also a strong factor. The partnership between NEOEC and GRDA first began in the 1940s.

According to Easley, recent decisions by GRDA to strengthen its financial position have also helped to strengthen customer partnerships for the coming years. "This news is historic," he said. "Moving the rating from “BBB+” to “A-” adds even more stability to the financial foundation this agency will rest on in the future.”

Of course, the impact this upgrade has on all those Oklahomans will show up in savings, said Easley. “For those who may be asking ‘why does this matter to me?’ GRDA would respond that it believes this upgrade will save our customers millions of dollars in finance and insurance charges as we continue to grow and plan a safe, reliable and affordable electric future.”

According to Easley, the upgrade could not have come at a better time for GRDA, which is entering an extensive growth mode. “GRDA is a progressive agency focused on meeting our customers’ needs while always retaining our reputation as Oklahoma’s low-cost, reliable electric supplier. An excellent workforce, solid customer partnerships and recognition like this from the financial community will help us achieve those goals.”

In March 2005, Fitch Ratings reaffirmed GRDA’s “A-” rating and upgraded its outlook of the utility’s bonds from stable to positive. In March 2006, S&P cited GRDA customers’ acceptance of rate increases and GRDA’s low-cost power supply as factors in its decision to, at the time, affirm the “BBB+” credit rating and improve the outlook from negative to stable. Then, in January 2007, Moody’s Investor Services affirmed an “A2” rating on GRDA’s outstanding electric revenue bonds and announced it would also change GRDA’s rating outlook from negative to stable.

“These improvements by the rating agencies give us confidence that GRDA is on the right track with the financial decisions we’ve made,” said Easley, “and I certainly want to commend the GRDA Board of Directors, for the role it has played in this effort. The rating agencies thought that leadership was noteworthy.”