NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 11, 2002—Standard&Poor's said today that it placed its ratings of XCEL Energy Inc. (A-/A-2) and subsidiaries on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, the ratings of NRG Energy Inc. (BBB-/--) and subsidiaries were placed on CreditWatch with positive implications. The CreditWatch actions reflect Standard&Poor's belief that there is a strong likelihood that XCEL will not reduce its ownership in NRG. Minnesota-based XCEL Energy owns 74% of NRG Energy, a wholesale power developer that owns generating plants, mainly in the U.S. The CreditWatch affects about $13 billion of debt--about $4.5 billion at XCEL's regulated electric utilities and $8.5 billion at NRG Energy and its subsidiaries. "If XCEL does not
