PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Andy Jacobyansky TI - Peering into the Crystal Ball AID - 10.3905/jsf.2000.320200 DP - 2000 Jan 31 TA - The Journal of Structured Finance PG - 21--31 VI - 5 IP - 4 4099 - https://pm-research.com/content/5/4/21.short 4100 - https://pm-research.com/content/5/4/21.full AB - An increasing number of issuers bearing merchant power risks are expected to approach agencies such as Moody's for credit rating in the coming year. Power rate projections are arguably the most significant risk factor for merchant powers. In any given region, there are a function of the current and projected supply and demand for energy, the actual electricity produced by a power plant, and capacity, the ability of a power plant to produce electricity. Among the variables are how the region is defined, the mix of generation technologies reserve margins, whether generation supply and demand are in equilibrium, fuel costs and other fixed and variable plant power costs. Additional considerations include the use of base-load plants, midmerit plants, peakers, and super-peakers; differences among markets; and transmission considerations.