Residential Customer Additions Outpacing Gas Demand Growth, Fitch Says

摘要

More residential energy consumers are turning to natural gas, but gas consumption growth is trailing the increase in customers due to energy efficiency and conservation, Fitch Ratings said. Still, the outlook for local distribution companies (LDC) is good, given an improved regulatory environment and the adoption of revenue decoupling and weather normalization mechanisms. LDCs have typically enjoyed high investment-grade ratings, primarily driven by low operational risks, supportive regulatory treatment, favorable capital market conditions, and low commodity prices that alleviate pressure on customer bills and accommodate robust capex and rate base growth, Fitch said.