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Financing Activities
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Financing Activities [Abstract]  
Financing Activities

7. Financing Activities

 

Credit Arrangements and Short-term Debt

 

(PPL, PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric, LKE, LG&E and KU)

 

The Registrants maintain credit facilities to enhance liquidity, provide credit support, and provide a backstop to commercial paper programs. For reporting purposes, on a consolidated basis, the credit facilities of PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric, LG&E and KU also apply to PPL and the credit facilities of LG&E and KU also apply to LKE. The following credit facilities were in place at:

       March 31, 2013 December 31, 2012
                Letters of      Letters of
                Credit Issued       Credit Issued
                and       and
                Commercial       Commercial
       Expiration    Borrowed Paper Unused Borrowed Paper
        Date Capacity (a) Backup Capacity (a) Backup
PPL                     
 WPD Credit Facilities                    
  PPL WW Syndicated                    
   Credit Facility (b) (c) Dec. 2016 £ 210 £ 109  n/a £ 101 £ 106  n/a
  WPD (South West)                     
   Syndicated Credit Facility  Jan. 2017   245     n/a   245     n/a
  WPD (East Midlands)                     
   Syndicated Credit Facility (c) Apr. 2016   300   65      235      
  WPD (West Midlands)                    
   Syndicated Credit Facility  Apr. 2016   300         300      
  Uncommitted Credit Facilities     84    £ 4   80    £ 4
   Total WPD Credit Facilities (d)   £ 1,139 £ 174 £ 4 £ 961 £ 106 £ 4
                           
PPL Energy Supply                     
 Syndicated Credit Facility  Nov. 2017 $ 3,000    $ 641 $ 2,359    $ 499
 Letter of Credit Facility (e) Mar. 2014   200  n/a   123   77  n/a   132
 Uncommitted Credit Facilities      200  n/a   88   112  n/a   40
   Total PPL Energy Supply Credit Facilities $ 3,400    $ 852 $ 2,548    $ 671
                           
PPL Electric                     
 Syndicated Credit Facility  Oct. 2017 $ 300    $ 126 $ 174    $ 1
 Asset-backed Credit Facility (f) Sept. 2013   100     n/a   100     n/a
   Total PPL Electric Credit Facilities   $ 400    $ 126 $ 274    $ 1
                           
LG&E                     
 Syndicated Credit Facility  Nov. 2017 $ 500    $ 70 $ 430    $ 55
                           
KU                     
 Syndicated Credit Facility  Nov. 2017 $ 400    $ 115 $ 285    $ 70
 Letter of Credit Facility (g) Apr. 2014   198      198         198
   Total KU Credit Facilities   $ 598    $ 313 $ 285    $ 268

(a)       Amounts borrowed are recorded as "Short-term debt" on the Balance Sheets.

(b)       In December 2012, the PPL WW syndicated credit facility that was set to expire in January 2013 was replaced and the capacity was increased from £150 million.

(c)       PPL WW's amounts borrowed at March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012 were USD-denominated borrowings of $171 million, which equated to £109 million and £106 million at the time of borrowings and bore interest at 1.9034% and 0.8452%. WPD (East Midlands) amount borrowed at March 31, 2013 was a GBP-denominated borrowing of £65 million, which equated to $99 million and bore interest at 1.30%.

(d)       At March 31, 2013, the USD equivalent of unused capacity under WPD's credit facilities was $1.5 billion.

(e)       In February 2013, PPL Energy Supply extended the expiration date from March 2013 and, effective April 2013, the capacity was reduced to $150 million.

(f)       PPL Electric participates in an asset-backed commercial paper program through which PPL Electric obtains financing by selling and contributing its eligible accounts receivable and unbilled revenue to a special purpose, wholly owned subsidiary on an ongoing basis. The subsidiary has pledged these assets to secure loans from a commercial paper conduit sponsored by a financial institution.

 

       At March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, $277 million and $238 million of accounts receivable and $98 million and $106 million of unbilled revenue were pledged by the subsidiary under the credit agreement related to PPL Electric's and the subsidiary's participation in the asset-backed commercial paper program. Based on the accounts receivable and unbilled revenue pledged at March 31, 2013, the amount available for borrowing under the facility was $100 million. PPL Electric's sale to its subsidiary of the accounts receivable and unbilled revenue is an absolute sale of assets, and PPL Electric does not retain an interest in these assets. However, for financial reporting purposes, the subsidiary's financial results are consolidated in PPL Electric's financial statements. PPL Electric performs certain record-keeping and cash collection functions with respect to the assets in return for a servicing fee from the subsidiary.

(g)       In May 2013, KU extended the letter of credit facility to May 2016.

 

(PPL and PPL Energy Supply)

 

PPL Energy Supply maintains a $500 million Facility Agreement expiring June 2017, whereby PPL Energy Supply has the ability to request up to $500 million of committed letter of credit capacity at fees to be agreed upon at the time of each request, based on certain market conditions. At March 31, 2013, PPL Energy Supply had not requested any capacity for the issuance of letters of credit under this arrangement.

 

PPL Energy Supply, PPL EnergyPlus, PPL Montour and PPL Brunner Island maintain an $800 million secured energy marketing and trading facility, whereby PPL EnergyPlus will receive credit to be applied to satisfy collateral posting obligations related to its energy marketing and trading activities with counterparties participating in the facility. The credit amount is guaranteed by PPL Energy Supply, PPL Montour and PPL Brunner Island. PPL Montour and PPL Brunner Island have granted liens on their respective generating facilities to secure any amount they may owe under their guarantees. The facility expires in November 2017, but is subject to automatic one-year renewals under certain conditions. There were no secured obligations outstanding under this facility at March 31, 2013.

 

PPL Energy Supply maintains a commercial paper program for up to $750 million to provide an additional financing source to fund its short-term liquidity needs, if and when necessary. Commercial paper issuances are supported by PPL Energy Supply's Syndicated Credit Facility. At March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, PPL Energy Supply had $481 million and $356 million of commercial paper outstanding, included in "Short-term debt" on the Balance Sheets, at weighted-average interest rates of 0.38% and 0.50%.

 

(PPL and PPL Electric)

 

PPL Electric maintains a commercial paper program for up to $300 million to provide an additional financing source to fund its short-term liquidity needs, if and when necessary. Commercial paper issuances are supported by PPL Electric's Syndicated Credit Facility. At March 31, 2013, PPL Electric had $125 million of commercial paper outstanding, included in "Short-term debt" on the Balance Sheet, at a weighted-average interest rate of 0.39%. PPL Electric had no commercial paper outstanding at December 31, 2012.

 

(PPL, LKE, LG&E and KU)

 

In April 2013, LG&E and KU each increased the capacity of their commercial paper programs from $250 million to $350 million to provide an additional financing source to fund their short-term liquidity needs, if and when necessary. Commercial paper issuances are supported by LG&E's and KU's Syndicated Credit Facilities. At March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, LG&E had $70 million and $55 million of commercial paper outstanding, included in "Short-term debt" on the Balance Sheets, at weighted-average interest rates of 0.36% and 0.42%. At March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, KU had $115 million and $70 million of commercial paper outstanding, included in "Short-term debt" on the Balance Sheets, at weighted-average interest rates of 0.36% and 0.42%.

 

(LKE)

 

See Note 11 for discussion of intercompany borrowings.

 

Long-term Debt and Equity Securities

 

(PPL)

 

In connection with an April 2012 registered public offering of 9.9 million shares of PPL common stock, PPL entered into forward sale agreements with two counterparties. In conjunction with that offering, the underwriters exercised an overallotment option and PPL entered into additional forward sale agreements covering 591 thousand shares of PPL common stock.

 

In April 2013, PPL settled the initial forward sale agreements by the issuance of 8.4 million shares of PPL common stock and cash settlement of the remaining 1.5 million shares. PPL received net cash proceeds of $205 million, which was calculated based on an initial forward price of $27.02 per share reduced during the period the contracts were outstanding as specified in the forward sale agreements. PPL used the net proceeds to repay short-term debt obligations and for other general corporate purposes. Settlement of the forward sale agreements covering 591 thousand remaining shares will occur no later than July 2013. PPL may elect to issue common stock, cash settle or net share settle all or a portion of its rights or obligations under the forward sale agreements.

 

The forward sale agreements are classified as equity transactions. As a result, no amounts were recorded in the consolidated financial statements until the April 2013 settlement of the initial forward sale agreements. However, prior to the April 2013 settlement, incremental shares were included within the calculation of diluted EPS using the treasury stock method. See Note 4 for the impact on the calculation of diluted EPS.

 

In March 2013, PPL Capital Funding issued $450 million of its 5.90% Junior Subordinated Notes due 2073. PPL Capital Funding received proceeds of $436 million, net of underwriting fees, which will be loaned to or invested in affiliates of PPL Capital Funding and used to fund their capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes.

 

See Note 7 in PPL's 2012 Form 10-K for information on the 2010 Equity Units (with respect to which the related $1.150 billion of Notes are expected to be remarketed in the second quarter of 2013) and the 2011 Equity Units.

 

(PPL and PPL Energy Supply)

 

In February 2013, PPL Energy Supply completed an offer to exchange up to all, but not less than a majority, of PPL Ironwood's 8.857% Senior Secured Bonds due 2025, (Ironwood Bonds), for newly issued PPL Energy Supply Senior Notes, Series 4.60% due 2021. A total of $167 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding Ironwood Bonds was exchanged for $212 million aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes, Series 4.60% due 2021. This transaction was accounted for as a modification of the existing debt. As a result, no gain or loss was recorded and the exchange was considered non-cash activity that was excluded from the 2013 Statement of Cash Flows.

 

Legal Separateness

 

(PPL, PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric and LKE)

 

The subsidiaries of PPL are separate legal entities. PPL's subsidiaries are not liable for the debts of PPL. Accordingly, creditors of PPL may not satisfy their debts from the assets of PPL's subsidiaries absent a specific contractual undertaking by a subsidiary to pay PPL's creditors or as required by applicable law or regulation. Similarly, absent a specific contractual undertaking or as required by applicable law or regulation, PPL is not liable for the debts of its subsidiaries, nor are its subsidiaries liable for the debts of one another. Accordingly, creditors of PPL's subsidiaries may not satisfy their debts from the assets of PPL or its other subsidiaries absent a specific contractual undertaking by PPL or its other subsidiaries to pay such creditors or as required by applicable law or regulation.

 

Similarly, the subsidiaries of PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric and LKE are each separate legal entities. These subsidiaries are not liable for the debts of PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric and LKE. Accordingly, creditors of PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric and LKE may not satisfy their debts from the assets of their subsidiaries absent a specific contractual undertaking by a subsidiary to pay the creditors or as required by applicable law or regulation. Similarly, absent a specific contractual undertaking or as required by applicable law or regulation, PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric and LKE are not liable for the debts of their subsidiaries, nor are their subsidiaries liable for the debts of one another. Accordingly, creditors of these subsidiaries may not satisfy their debts from the assets of PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric and LKE (or their other subsidiaries) absent a specific contractual undertaking by that parent or other subsidiary to pay such creditors or as required by applicable law or regulation.

 

Distributions and Capital Contributions

 

(PPL)

 

In February 2013, PPL declared its quarterly common stock dividend, payable April 1, 2013, at 36.75 cents per share (equivalent to $1.47 per annum). Future dividends, declared at the discretion of the Board of Directors, will be dependent upon future earnings, cash flows, financial and legal requirements and other factors.

 

(PPL Energy Supply, PPL Electric, LKE, LG&E and KU)

 

During the three months ended March 31, 2013, the following distributions and capital contributions occurred:

    PPL Energy             
    Supply  PPL Electric LKE LG&E KU
                   
Dividends/distributions paid to parent/member $ 313  $ 25 $ 4 $ 19 $ 13
Capital contributions received from parent/member       60   75   25   50