On Sept. 19, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'A-' senior secured rating to Duke Energy Corp.'s $500 million first mortgage bonds due 2015 and its 'BBB+' senior unsecured debt ratings to the company's $300 million senior notes dues 2008. The outlook is negative. Duke Energy will use the first mortgage bond proceeds to refund existing first mortgage bonds, and the proceeds of the senior notes for general corporate purposes, including redemption of commercial paper. The debt issues are drawdowns from Duke Energy's existing shelf registration, which had capacity of $2 billion as of Sept. 3, 2003. The ratings on Duke Energy reflect a consolidated credit assessment of the company's regulated U.S. electric utility operations, Duke Power Co.,
