SAN FRANCISCO (Standard&Poor's) June 22, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'BB+' rating and a recovery rating of '1' to Tucson Electric Power Co.'s (TEP; BB/Watch Neg/--) $401 million secured banking facility, due June 2009. The 'BB+' rating is one notch higher than TEP's corporate credit rating to reflect, together with the '1' recovery rating, a high expectation of full recovery of principal in the event of a default. The facility provides $60 million of revolving credit to the utility for general corporate purposes, while the balance is dedicated to supporting about $329 million in second mortgage, tax-exempt variable-rate bonds. TEP's bank facility is secured by a second lien on TEP's plant, excluding assets under capital
