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Public Service Commission approves multiple utility debt issuances, lowers one-step credit threshold
Summary
At its June 26, 2025, open meeting the Public Service Commission approved several utility requests to issue billions in debt and adopted related conditions that increase maximum maturities to 50 years and reduce the minimum NAIC rating for the Commission's one-step issuance procedure from NAIC 1 to NAIC 2.
MADISON, Wis. — The Public Service Commission on June 26 approved a series of requests from Wisconsin utilities to issue and sell debt securities, and approved related changes to the Commission's procedural criteria for one-step debt issuance.
The Commission approved requests authorizing: up to $3,500,000,000 aggregate principal amount of debt securities (agenda item 14); up to $800,000,000 (agenda item 15); up to $700,000,000 (agenda item 16); up to $1,500,000,000 (agenda item 17); and up to $450,000,000 (agenda item 18). The approvals were made with the conditions outlined in the Commission memorandum and included a recommendation that long-term debt maturities be permitted up to 50 years and that the minimum credit rating required to qualify for the Commission's one-step procedure be reduced from NAIC 1 to NAIC 2.
The motions were made during the Commission's open meeting; a commissioner moved approval and another commissioner seconded each motion. Each motion passed after the chair called for the voice vote and commissioners responded "Aye." The motions record that the sale of authorized debt securities through competitive bidding was not required in the public interest, consistent with the secretary's memorandum description for the respective dockets.
The Commission's action changes two recurring issuance conditions cited in the memoranda: allowable maximum maturities and the minimum NAIC rating to qualify for the expedited, one-step issuance procedure. The memoranda also describe other conditions for each applicant, but the Commission's meeting record contains the approvals only at a summary level; the memoranda themselves contain the specific contractual and underwriting conditions tied to each docket.
Commission Secretary Stupley was referenced as the source of the memorandum descriptions provided to the Commission. Commissioner HMO and other commissioners were thanked after the series of approvals as the meeting concluded.
The approvals affect multiple utilities that filed the dockets and could influence the timing and cost of utility capital markets transactions. The public meeting record does not show debate or recorded roll-call tallies; each item was approved by voice vote after the motions and seconding remarks.
The Commission's next open meeting is scheduled for July 17, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.
