NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) June 27, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Duke Energy Corp.'s (BBB/Positive/--) agreement to sell its subsidiary Cinergy Corp.'s (BBB/Positive/A-2) commercial marketing and trading business to Fortis N.V. (A+/Stable/A-1) is a positive event for credit quality. Standard&Poor's revised the outlook on Duke Energy in May 2006, when the company announced its plans to exit these remaining marketing and trading operations. Today's announcement is in line with Standard&Poor's expectations, and upon completion the sale should contribute to a further moderation in business risk and materially reduce future collateral requirements. Duke Energy expects pretax proceeds, for the purchase price and adjusted for working capital and collateral, of about $350 million. The
