Moody's lowers Energy East loans, lifts notes

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded Energy East Corp.'s issuer rating and senior unsecured bank facility to Baa3 from Baa2 and its short-term rating for commercial paper to Prime-3 from Prime-2.

The agency upgraded Energy East's 8.05% notes due 2010, 6.75% notes due 2012, 6.75% notes due 2033 and 6.75% notes due 2036 to A3 from Baa2.

Also downgraded were the company's utility subsidiaries. Moody's lowered New York State Electric & Gas Corp.'s issuer rating and senior unsecured debt to Baa2 from Baa1 and preferred stock to Ba1 from Baa3; Rochester Gas & Electric Corp.'s issuer rating to Baa2 from Baa1 and senior secured debt to Baa1 from A3; Central Maine Power Co.'s issuer rating and senior unsecured debt to Baa1 from A3 and preferreds to Baa3 from Baa2; the senior unsecured debt ratings of Connecticut Natural Gas Co. and Southern Connecticut Gas Co. to Baa1 from A3; and Berkshire Gas Co.'s issuer rating to Baa2 from Baa1.

This concludes the review for possible downgrade that began on Sept. 16, 2008.

Moody's said the downgrades primarily reflect Energy East's currently tight liquidity on a consolidated basis and continued weakness in the levels of key financial metrics for Energy East and its subsidiaries based on recently completed audits of full-year 2008 financial statements for all the companies.

The upgrade of the notes reflects the added support of a guarantee from Iberdrola SA (A3/stable).

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