Georgia

Potential federal oversight of public utilities, rising costs, and lawsuits create volatility for utility market investors, Fiera Capital says.

The vote ends the effort to create a new city and ends the legal debate over who would have been responsible for Stockbridge bond debt.

Todd Barker appears prepared to have negotiated a monetary settlement with the SEC, while Dwayne Edwards plans to contest the SEC's motion in court.

The results stand to influence the municipal market through capital planning and budget actions with potential impacts on ratings and borrowing levels.

Communities hoping to create their own cities by tearing away from established municipalities may find the price tag too high following a federal judge's recent decision, political experts and residents watching the Eagle's Landing, Ga., effort say.

Five states also elect governors and voters in two states decide whether to restrict future tax increases.

Fitch Ratings said it won't lower its ratings because of JEA's litigation attempting to shed a power purchase agreement with Georgia's MEAG.

The Georgia Supreme Court won't delay a referendum to de-annex half of Stockbridge, though the state's de-annexation law is still being challenged in court.

Moody's Investors Service said Jacksonville's litigation to repudiate a power contract raises questions about its willingness to make good on obligations.

Agencies across the country said the case filed by a Florida utility could expose them to "unprecedented" federal oversight of public power contracts.

The ratings of four Southeast public power agencies were lowered due to uncertainty about future costs to build the new reactors.

Investor-owned Georgia Power made concessions to secure public power owners' agreement to continue construction of the Plant Vogtle nuclear project.

Oglethorpe Power said it will only support completing the new reactors at Plant Vogtle if the other three co-owners agree to a cap on future costs.

MEAG joins two other owners of the Plant Vogtle project voting to move forward; Oglethorpe Power has yet to decide.

Florida’s JEA has asked federal regulators to review its power purchase agreement with Georgia’s MEAG, a move that could delay lawsuits filed over the matter.

S&P placed the Florida utility’s bond ratings on CreditWatch Negative after JEA asked a court to void a power purchase agreement.

The fallout from a 2017 federal fraud case is continuing to impact bond investors with the latest development involving the loss of tax-exempt status for bonds that were issued for two assisted living facilities in Georgia.

MEAG wants a power purchase agreement enforced against JEA, which says the agreement must be vacated because it wasn’t properly approved.

Jacksonville-based JEA wants the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia to vote against continuing the project.

A report on cyber-related risks released Wednesday by S&P Global warned that “a successful attack on an entity with limited resources could have a credit impact.”