Fitch Downgrades and Withdraws Energy Harbor's Rating

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Energy Harbor Corporation's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'BB' from 'BB+' and removed the Rating Watch Negative and assigned a Stable Rating Outlook.

Simultaneously, Fitch has withdrawn the IDR following the closure of the merger with Vistra Corp. (Vistra; BB/Stable).

On March 1, 2024, Vistra acquired Energy Harbor. Energy Harbor's nuclear and retail businesses were combined with Vistra's nuclear, retail, renewables and storage businesses under a newly formed subsidiary holding company, 'Vistra Vision'. The deal was initially announced in March 2023.

While the acquisition provides modest improvement to the combined enterprise's business position, the proposed acquisition results in a weaker financial profile. Vistra fully controls the legal, strategic and operational aspects of the combined business, and as a result, following the deal closure, Fitch equalized Energy Harbor's IDR with Vistra's prior to the withdrawal of rating.

Energy Harbor's only existing debt is approximately $430 million in municipal bonds, which was assumed by Vistra Vision upon close of the transaction. Fitch does not rate this debt.

Fitch has withdrawn the IDR following the closure of the merger with Vistra.

Key Rating Drivers

Not applicable as the ratings have been withdrawn.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Rating sensitivities are no longer relevant given the rating withdrawal

Issuer Profile

Energy Harbor Corp. is a privately held energy producer and retailer, headquartered in Akron, OH. The company owns and operates four nuclear power generation units in Ohio and Pennsylvania totaling about 4.0GW. The company also serves over one million residential, commercial and industrial customers.

REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING

The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.

ESG Considerations

The highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3', unless otherwise disclosed in this section. A score of '3' means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores are not inputs in the rating process; they are an observation on the relevance and materiality of ESG factors in the rating decision. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/topics/esg/products#esg-relevance-scores.