Moody’s flips FirstEnergy view to positive

Moody's Investors Service said it changed FirstEnergy Corp.’s outlook to positive from stable and affirmed its ratings, including its Ba1 senior unsecured rating. Moody's also changed its outlook to positive from stable.

Additionally, Moody's affirmed the ratings of FirstEnergy's three Ohio utilities subsidiaries Ohio Edison Co., Toledo Edison Co. and Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. The outlook of Ohio Edison was changed to stable from negative, while the outlooks of Toledo Edison and Cleveland Electric remain negative.

“The change in the outlooks of FirstEnergy and Ohio Edison follow FirstEnergy's announcement on Nov. 1, 2021, that its Ohio utility subsidiaries had reached a settlement agreement with interveners related to several open regulatory proceedings in Ohio,” Moody’s said in a press release.

On Sunday, FirstEnergy announced the sale of a 19.9% minority interest in subsidiary FirstEnergy Transmission, which will result in $2.4 billion of proceeds. FirstEnergy also stated that it agreed to issue an additional $1 billion of equity to shore up its balance sheet.

The proceeds are expected to be used to lower parent debt levels as well as to fund incremental investment and growth opportunities, Moody’s said.

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