Fitch Rates Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co.'s $300MM FMB Issuance 'BBB'

Business Wire, Nov 19, 2008

CHICAGO -- Fitch Ratings has assigned a rating of 'BBB' to Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co.'s (CEI) $300 million issuance of 8.875% first mortgage bonds, due 2018. Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay short-term borrowings and for other general corporate purposes. The Rating Outlook is Stable.

CEI, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Energy Corp. (FE), is an electric distribution utility serving approximately 756,000 customers in northeastern Ohio.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.