Moody's affirms Ameren

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the Baa1 senior secured, Baa3 senior unsecured and issuer rating, and Ba2 preferred stock ratings of Ameren Illinois Co. upon a corporate reorganization combining Ameren's three Illinois utilities into one utility.

The outlook is stable.

Moody's assigned a Baa3 senior unsecured bank credit facility rating to three separate bank credit agreements totaling $2.1 billion among Ameren and Union Electric Co., Ameren and AIC, and Ameren and Ameren Energy Generating Co. ($500 million) and a bank group led by JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA as agent.

Ratings reflect improved financial metrics exhibited by Ameren's Illinois utility subsidiaries resulting from higher electric and gas delivery service rates implemented in late 2008 and an improving political and regulatory environment for Ameren in Illinois, the agency said.

The most recent Illinois rate case outcomes are unsupportive of credit quality, which could put pressure on the utility's financial metrics going forward, the agency noted.

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