NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 23, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it assigned its 'B+' rating to Calpine Corp.'s $785 million first-priority senior secured notes due in 2014, which is one notch higher than the company's corporate credit rating. Standard&Poor's also assigned its '1' recovery rating to the notes, indicating a high expectation of full recovery of principal if a default occurs. The rating on Calpine (B/Negative/--), a San Jose, Calif.-based corporation engaged in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of power generation facilities, reflects the following risks: Calpine's credit statistics are weak. For example, adjusted funds from operations (FFO) interest coverage was low at 0.7x on a 12-month rolling period ending June 30, 2004.
