VANCOUVER, British Columbia --  Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services yesterday lowered the corporate credit ratings of Duke Energy, Duke Capital and other related subsidiaries, including Westcoast Energy Inc. (Westcoast) and Union Gas Limited (Union Gas), to ‘A’ from ‘A+’ and removed these companies from CreditWatch with negative implications where they were placed on July 16, 2002. The outlooks for all companies are stable.

The ratings for Westcoast and Union Gas senior unsecured debt issues have been lowered to ‘A’ from ‘A+’, the ratings for Westcoast and Union Gas preferred stock have been lowered to ‘BBB+’ from ‘A-’ and the short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings remain unchanged at ‘A-1’ (mid). These ratings were also removed from CreditWatch negative.

Duke Energy is a diversified multinational energy company with an integrated network of energy assets and expertise. The company manages a dynamic portfolio of natural gas and electric supply, delivery and trading businesses -- meeting the energy needs of customers throughout North America and in key markets around the world. Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a Fortune 100 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available on the Internet at: www.duke-energy.com