DBRS Morningstar Assigns Rating of A (high) With a Stable Trend to Hydro One Inc.’s $425 Million Medium-Term Notes Issue

DBRS Limited (DBRS Morningstar) assigned a rating of A (high) with a Stable trend to Hydro One Inc.’s (HOI or the Company) $425 million floating-rate Unsecured Medium-Term Notes (Series 56) offering due 2026 (the Notes). The rating assigned to the Notes is based on the ratings of other already-outstanding series of Senior Unsecured Debentures.

The Notes will be direct, unsecured obligations of HOI, ranking pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of the Company. HOI intends to allocate net proceeds from the issuance to finance and/or refinance Eligible Projects (as defined pursuant to the Company’s Sustainable Financing Framework) that are Green Projects (as defined pursuant to the Company's Sustainable Financing Framework). Prior to such allocation, net proceeds may be initially used for repayment of indebtedness or investments in bank deposits or other cash equivalents.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, GOVERNANCE CONSIDERATIONS
There were no Environmental/Social/Governance factors that had a significant or relevant effect on the credit analysis.

A description of how DBRS Morningstar considers ESG factors within the DBRS Morningstar analytical framework can be found in the DBRS Morningstar Criteria: Approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance Risk Factors in Credit Ratings at https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/416784/dbrs-morningstar-criteria-approach-to-environmental-social-and-governance-risk-factors-in-credit-ratings (July 4, 2023).

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

DBRS Morningstar applied the following principal methodology:
-- Global Methodology for Rating Companies in the Regulated Electric, Natural Gas, and Water Utilities Industry (September 13, 2022; https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/402616/global-methodology-for-rating-companies-in-the-regulated-electric-natural-gas-and-water-utilities-industry).

The credit rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/about/methodologies.

A description of how DBRS Morningstar analyzes corporate finance transactions and how the methodologies are collectively applied can be found at: https://www.dbrsmorningstar.com/research/397223.

The conditions that lead to the assignment of a Negative or Positive trend are generally resolved within a 12-month period. DBRS Morningstar trends and credit ratings are under regular surveillance.

Information regarding DBRS Morningstar credit ratings, including definitions, policies, and methodologies, is available on www.dbrsmorningstar.com or contact us at [email protected].

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