Great Plains Energy Incorporated Q3 2009 Earnings Call Transcript

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2009-10-30 10:32:07.0

Tags: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., S&P, Financing, Great Plains Software, Call Transcript, Earnings, Financial Accounting, Investment, Advertising & Promotion, Finance, Marketing, Seeking Alpha, Great Plains Energy Inc.

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

(Operator instructions). Your first question is from Michael Lapides with a Goldman Sachs.

Michael Lapides Goldman Sachs

Hey, guys. I want to touch on a handful of things. First of all, the schedule in Missouri regarding the rate case filing versus the in-service date by Iatan 2. I want to make sure I'm interpreting this correctly.

Are you guys hinting at there is a potential delay in the in-service date by Iatan 2, or is this just being done for regulatory flexibility in other mechanisms?

Mike Chesser

It's latter. We're not hinting that there's a potential delay.

Michael Lapides Goldman Sachs

Okay. When is the first firing expected of Iatan 2 kind of the oil firing you mentioned?

Mike Chesser

That would be late in January, sort of about the third week in January, Mike.

Michael Lapides – Goldman Sachs

Got it. Second, credit ratings, when we look at that slide, you've been on negative watch at several of the agencies for a while. First of all, have these been updated since your financings from the May/June timeframe?

Mike Chesser

I'll let Michael Cline answer that.

Michael Cline

Michael, yes, those reflect the current views of both Moody’s and S&P.

Michael Lapides – Goldman Sachs

Right, but in that view has been, sometimes there can be extensive lag between when the agencies provide an updated view. That view has been updated since the equity financing.

Michael Cline

They publish, at least in S&P's case, a monthly update of the ranking of all the utilities in the industry from strongest to weakest and that's their opportunity to publish their updated view. It hasn't changed since the March timeframe.

Michael Lapides – Goldman Sachs

Got it. Are you facing pressure in terms of your capital structure from the agencies in order to keep your credit ratings? Or is there other mechanisms going on in terms, potentially they're just waiting to see the outcome of the next rate case?

Michael Cline

Well, I think at this point, they're evaluated a number of factors. If you read the most recent S&P summary on the GXP family, it references the very positive steps that we've taken with regard to credit quality this year including the financing that we completed in May. They perceive the dividend cut earlier this year as positive from a credit perspective. They noted that the plant operations have improved.

 

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