TEXT-S&P release on CE GEN LLC

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

Aug 26 - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BB+' rating on CE
Generation LLC's (CE Gen) $400 million senior secured notes due 2018, and
assigned a recovery rating of '1'. The outlook is stable. The recovery rating
of '1' indicates the expectation of very high (90% to 100%) recovery of
principal in the event of a default.

"The rating on CE Gen reflects the strength of the contracted cash flows
from its subsidiary Salton Sea Funding Corp., which is expected to account for
nearly all of CE Gen's contracted cash flows after 2009," said Standard &
Poor's credit analyst Terrence Marshall. "Of the $400 million originally
issued, CE Gen had about $271.8 million in debt outstanding as of March 31,
2008."

CE Generation LLC, which is owned 50% by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
(MEHC) and 50% by TransAlta Corp., is the holding company for MEHC's interests
in its U.S. qualifying facilities (QF). The total capacity of CE Gen's
13-project portfolio is 829 megawatts (MW), with CE Gen's net ownership at 769
MW.

Although the cash flows come from a number of projects, the portfolio's
effect is limited in that 10 of the 13 projects are part of SSFC's
(BBB-/Stable) geothermal portfolio, with the remainder being gas-fired
combined-cycle units. Together with Saranac, the combined-cycle QF located in
New York state, SSFC is expected to provide most of the cash flow through
2009. After 2009, when the Saranac QF contract expires, SSFC will provide
virtually all of CE Gen's contractual cash flow, while all three combined
cycle units will have merchant exposure.

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ratings, research, and risk analysis, at www.ratingsdirect.com. All ratings
affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web
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(New York Ratings Team)