TEXT-S&P release on Main Street Natural Gas

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

Sept 15 - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it placed its
'A' senior secured rating on Main Street Natural Gas Inc.'s $496.71 million
series 2007A tax-exempt revenue bonds on CreditWatch with developing
implications.

"The rating action follows our Sept. 15, 2008 CreditWatch placement of
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (A/Watch Dev/A-1), which guarantees the obligations
of Main Street's gas supplier in this transaction," noted Standard & Poor's
credit analyst Kenneth L. Farer. "Standard & Poor's placed its ratings on
Merrill Lynch and all related entities on CreditWatch with developing
implications following Bank of America Corp.'s (AA-/Watch Neg/A-1+) agreement
to acquire Merrill Lynch in an all-stock transaction valued at about $50
billion," he continued.

The Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia (the Gas Authority; A/Stable/--)
established Main Street as a nonprofit, special-purpose vehicle to issue the
bonds. It is issuing the 2007 series bond to finance the cost of acquiring
about 129 billion cubic feet of gas, capitalized interest expense, the
customer insurance policy premium, a working-capital reserve, and cost of bond
issuance. Gas delivery will be over 20 years at designated delivery points
based on a predetermined schedule.

Standard & Poor's will resolve the CreditWatch listing after holding
discussions with management to address capital planning, earnings projections,
and strategic direction. If the transaction is completed, we will most likely
raise the ratings on Merrill Lynch. The extent of the upgrade depends on our
assessment of the combined company's business strategy and the structure of
the transaction. Additional considerations include the nature of any support
that Merrill Lynch's debt and other obligations receive.

If, however, the transaction is not completed, we could lower the ratings
on Merrill Lynch. The downgrade would reflect the negative market sentiment
with respect to the broker dealers in the wake of the collapse of Lehman
Brothers Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch's residual exposure to problem assets,
and uncertainty regarding the long-range profit potential of Merrill's
investment banking and trading operations, if it remains independent.

Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of
RatingsDirect, the real-time Web-based source for Standard & Poor's credit
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
site at www.standardandpoors.com; select your preferred country or region,
then Ratings in the left navigation bar, followed by Credit Ratings Search.
(New York Ratings Team)