NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 7, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Dominion Resources Inc.'s (BBB+/Negative/A-2) agreement to acquire USGen New England Inc.'s (D/--/--) fossil assets for $656 million will not affect the rating on Dominion. Given the largely merchant nature of the 2,800 MW fossil fleet, Standard&Poor's expects that Dominion will finance the assets with substantial equity. Also, while the asset purchase itself will not increase business risk for Dominion's consolidated operations, Standard&Poor's is concerned that the company's aggressive acquisition strategy could result in an eventual weakening of its business profile. As part of the bankruptcy-supervised divestiture of USGen's generation portfolio, the assets will be offered at public auction to determine whether
