XML 27 R11.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.21.1
Financings And Capitalization
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Debt Instrument [Line Items]  
Financings and Capitalization Financings and Capitalization
Credit Facilities: The following credit facilities with banks were available at March 31, 2021:
In Millions
Expiration DateAmount of FacilityAmount BorrowedLetters of Credit OutstandingAmount Available
CMS Energy, parent only
June 5, 2023
$550 $— $18 $532 
CMS Enterprises, including subsidiaries
September 25, 20251
$39 $— $39 $— 
September 30, 20252
18 — 8 10 
Consumers3
June 5, 2023$850 $— $12 $838 
November 19, 2022250 — 1 249 
April 18, 202230 — 30 — 
1This letter of credit facility is available to Aviator Wind Equity Holdings. For more information regarding Aviator Wind Equity Holdings, see Note 13, Variable Interest Entities.
2Under this facility, $8 million is available solely for the purpose of issuing letters of credit. Obligations under this facility are secured by the collateral accounts with the lending bank.
3Obligations under these facilities are secured by first mortgage bonds of Consumers.
Short-term Borrowings: Under Consumers’ commercial paper program, Consumers may issue, in one or more placements, investment-grade commercial paper notes with maturities of up to 365 days at market interest rates. These issuances are supported by Consumers’ revolving credit facilities and may have an aggregate principal amount outstanding of up to $500 million. While the amount of outstanding commercial paper does not reduce the available capacity of the revolving credit facilities, Consumers does not intend to issue commercial paper in an amount exceeding the available capacity of the facilities. At March 31, 2021, there were no commercial paper notes outstanding under this program.
In December 2020, Consumers renewed a short-term credit agreement with CMS Energy, permitting Consumers to borrow up to $350 million at an interest rate of one month LIBOR minus 0.100 percent. At March 31, 2021, $57 million was outstanding under the agreement at an interest rate of 0.014 percent.
Dividend Restrictions: At March 31, 2021, payment of dividends by CMS Energy on its common stock was limited to $5.7 billion under provisions of the Michigan Business Corporation Act of 1972.
Under the provisions of its articles of incorporation, at March 31, 2021, Consumers had $1.7 billion of unrestricted retained earnings available to pay dividends on its common stock to CMS Energy. Provisions of the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act appear to restrict dividends payable by Consumers to the amount of Consumers’ retained earnings. Several decisions from FERC suggest that, under a variety of circumstances, dividends from Consumers on its common stock would not be limited to amounts in Consumers’ retained earnings. Any decision by Consumers to pay dividends on its common stock in excess of retained earnings would be based on specific facts and circumstances and would be subject to a formal regulatory filing process.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, Consumers paid $276 million in dividends on its common stock to CMS Energy.
Issuance of Common Stock: In 2020, CMS Energy entered into an equity offering program under which it may sell, from time to time, shares of CMS Energy common stock. Under the program, CMS Energy may sell its common stock in privately negotiated transactions, in “at the market” offerings, through forward sales transactions, or otherwise.
CMS Energy may sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate sales price of up to $500 million. Presented in the following table are details of CMS Energy’s forward sales contracts under this program at March 31, 2021:
Forward Price Per Share
Contract DateMaturity DateNumber of SharesInitialMarch 31, 2021
September 15, 2020June 30, 2022846,759$61.04 $60.01 
December 22, 2020June 22, 2022115,59561.81 61.31 
These contracts allow CMS Energy to either physically settle the contracts by issuing shares of its common stock at the then-applicable forward sale price specified by the agreement or net settle the contracts through the delivery or receipt of cash or shares. CMS Energy may settle the contracts at any time through their maturity dates, and presently intends to physically settle the contracts by delivering shares of its common stock.
The initial forward price in the forward equity sale contracts includes a deduction for commissions and will be adjusted on a daily basis over the term based on an interest rate factor and decreased on certain dates by certain predetermined amounts to reflect expected dividend payments. No amounts are recorded on CMS Energy’s consolidated balance sheets until settlements of the forward equity sale contracts occur.
If CMS Energy had elected to net share settle the contracts as of March 31, 2021, CMS Energy would have been required to deliver 16,758 shares.
Consumers Energy Company  
Debt Instrument [Line Items]  
Financings and Capitalization Financings and Capitalization
Credit Facilities: The following credit facilities with banks were available at March 31, 2021:
In Millions
Expiration DateAmount of FacilityAmount BorrowedLetters of Credit OutstandingAmount Available
CMS Energy, parent only
June 5, 2023
$550 $— $18 $532 
CMS Enterprises, including subsidiaries
September 25, 20251
$39 $— $39 $— 
September 30, 20252
18 — 8 10 
Consumers3
June 5, 2023$850 $— $12 $838 
November 19, 2022250 — 1 249 
April 18, 202230 — 30 — 
1This letter of credit facility is available to Aviator Wind Equity Holdings. For more information regarding Aviator Wind Equity Holdings, see Note 13, Variable Interest Entities.
2Under this facility, $8 million is available solely for the purpose of issuing letters of credit. Obligations under this facility are secured by the collateral accounts with the lending bank.
3Obligations under these facilities are secured by first mortgage bonds of Consumers.
Short-term Borrowings: Under Consumers’ commercial paper program, Consumers may issue, in one or more placements, investment-grade commercial paper notes with maturities of up to 365 days at market interest rates. These issuances are supported by Consumers’ revolving credit facilities and may have an aggregate principal amount outstanding of up to $500 million. While the amount of outstanding commercial paper does not reduce the available capacity of the revolving credit facilities, Consumers does not intend to issue commercial paper in an amount exceeding the available capacity of the facilities. At March 31, 2021, there were no commercial paper notes outstanding under this program.
In December 2020, Consumers renewed a short-term credit agreement with CMS Energy, permitting Consumers to borrow up to $350 million at an interest rate of one month LIBOR minus 0.100 percent. At March 31, 2021, $57 million was outstanding under the agreement at an interest rate of 0.014 percent.
Dividend Restrictions: At March 31, 2021, payment of dividends by CMS Energy on its common stock was limited to $5.7 billion under provisions of the Michigan Business Corporation Act of 1972.
Under the provisions of its articles of incorporation, at March 31, 2021, Consumers had $1.7 billion of unrestricted retained earnings available to pay dividends on its common stock to CMS Energy. Provisions of the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act appear to restrict dividends payable by Consumers to the amount of Consumers’ retained earnings. Several decisions from FERC suggest that, under a variety of circumstances, dividends from Consumers on its common stock would not be limited to amounts in Consumers’ retained earnings. Any decision by Consumers to pay dividends on its common stock in excess of retained earnings would be based on specific facts and circumstances and would be subject to a formal regulatory filing process.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, Consumers paid $276 million in dividends on its common stock to CMS Energy.
Issuance of Common Stock: In 2020, CMS Energy entered into an equity offering program under which it may sell, from time to time, shares of CMS Energy common stock. Under the program, CMS Energy may sell its common stock in privately negotiated transactions, in “at the market” offerings, through forward sales transactions, or otherwise.
CMS Energy may sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate sales price of up to $500 million. Presented in the following table are details of CMS Energy’s forward sales contracts under this program at March 31, 2021:
Forward Price Per Share
Contract DateMaturity DateNumber of SharesInitialMarch 31, 2021
September 15, 2020June 30, 2022846,759$61.04 $60.01 
December 22, 2020June 22, 2022115,59561.81 61.31 
These contracts allow CMS Energy to either physically settle the contracts by issuing shares of its common stock at the then-applicable forward sale price specified by the agreement or net settle the contracts through the delivery or receipt of cash or shares. CMS Energy may settle the contracts at any time through their maturity dates, and presently intends to physically settle the contracts by delivering shares of its common stock.
The initial forward price in the forward equity sale contracts includes a deduction for commissions and will be adjusted on a daily basis over the term based on an interest rate factor and decreased on certain dates by certain predetermined amounts to reflect expected dividend payments. No amounts are recorded on CMS Energy’s consolidated balance sheets until settlements of the forward equity sale contracts occur.
If CMS Energy had elected to net share settle the contracts as of March 31, 2021, CMS Energy would have been required to deliver 16,758 shares.