NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 24, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it affirmed its 'BBB' corporate credit ratings on Duke Energy Corp. and its subsidiaries. At the same time, Standard&Poor's revised the outlook to stable from positive. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy had about $18.8 billion of debt outstanding as of year-end 2004. The outlook revision on Duke Energy and its subsidiaries is the result of several events announced by the company, which Standard&Poor's views as not being commensurate with the positive outlook that was assigned in December 2004. These events include Duke Energy's plan to repurchase up to $2.5 billion in common stock over the next three years; the reduction of Duke
