OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has released the 2015 version of its U.S. Public Power Peer Study.

The study contains operating and financial data for 134 Fitch-rated public power issuers including retail and wholesale utility systems, and rural electric cooperatives. It provides updated statistics and metrics for utilities with fiscal years ending Dec. 31, 2014, as well as revised medians to reflect updated statistics and rating actions taken through June 1, 2015.

Fitch has also released the new Fitch Analytical Comparative Tool (F.A.C.T.) for Public Power. Similar to the previously published Peer Study Addendum, the F.A.C.T. will provide additional functionality and improve the peer study's use as a tool for investors and other market participants.

F.A.C.T. will provide a system overview and key rating information for each of the public power and cooperative issuers included in the peer study, as well as historical operational and financial information trend analysis.

The F.A.C.T. will also feature dynamic charting applications that allow the user to generate a graphic representation of an issuer's selected financial metrics against medians on a notch-specific rating basis, within the same rating category (i.e. 'AA', 'A', 'BBB') or against the entire portfolio of Fitch-rated issuers. The analytical tool will further provide the ability to compare trends in operational and financial data for up to three systems and against selected medians.