NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) March 8, 1999--Standard&Poor's today assigned its double-'B' rating to Calpine Corp.'s $500 million senior unsecured notes. In addition, Standard&Poor's raised its corporate credit and senior unsecured note ratings on Calpine to double-'B' from double-'B'-minus. The outlook is stable. Calpine will use the proceeds of the offering to finance acquisitions, refinance existing project level debt, and for ongoing business development. The rating reflects the following risks: -- A high degree of leverage to total capitalization of 78.9% at year-end 1998 and going down to about 77%, on a pro forma basis, after the planned stock and bond offerings; -- Calpine's risk profile, while concentrated in the U.S. market, continues to grow
