NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Sept. 13, 2000--Standard&Poor's today assigned its 'A-1' rating to Duke Energy Corp.'s $500 million Section 4(2) extendible commercial notes (ECN) program. The size of the program transgresses Standard&Poor's guideline that unbacked ECNs must not exceed 20% of backup facilities supporting the company's outstanding conventional commercial paper program; Duke Energy's backup facilities total $1.25 billion. However, Standard&Poor's relies on the fact that daily ECN use will not exceed $250 million, and Duke Energy has committed to reviewing with Standard&Poor's the issuance of ECNs in higher amounts on an exception basis. The company intends to use the ECN program to meet daily liquidity, and on occasion, provide interim
