Within a four-month period, California's Vernon Public Utilities received a second upgraded rating from an accredited financial institution -- this time from Standards and Poor Global, which gave an “A Rating” and “Stable Outlook” to VPU.
This marks the second consecutive year that S&P has upgraded VPU's credit rating.
S&P assesses the creditworthiness of a utility based on its financial health and proactive, stable management strategies. This was reaffirmed by VPU’s ability to demonstrate full cost recovery of sustained load growth from large developments like data centers and fleet electrification.
Additionally, exploring emerging technologies as efforts to diversify future use of the city’s power plant, which includes possible integration of clean hydrogen were key in S&P's financial assessment, the city noted.
Appropriate checks and balances are also evaluated by S&P, and the utility’s recent development of an Energy Risk Management plan, along with routine Cost of Service studies and utilization of hedging strategies were all viewed as high standards.
In addition to S&P’s recent rating upgrade, VPU also received a rating upgrade from Moody’s in April of 2026, which further supports its A-rated status and strong financial health from which the Vernon community and businesses benefit.
