Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters

Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters

2.Long-Term Debt and Liquidity Matters

Pinnacle West and APS maintain committed revolving credit facilities in order to enhance liquidity and provide credit support for their commercial paper programs.

Pinnacle West

At September 30, 2012, Pinnacle West’s $200 million credit facility, which matures in November 2016, was available to refinance indebtedness of the Company and for other general corporate purposes, including credit support for its $200 million commercial paper program.  Pinnacle West has the option to increase the amount of the facility up to a maximum of $300 million upon the satisfaction of certain conditions and with the consent of the lenders.  At September 30, 2012, Pinnacle West had no outstanding borrowings under its credit facility, no letters of credit outstanding and no commercial paper borrowings.

APS

On January 13, 2012, APS issued $325 million of 4.50% unsecured senior notes that mature on April 1, 2042.  The net proceeds from the sale were used along with other funds to repay at maturity APS’s $375 million aggregate principal amount of 6.50% senior notes on March 1, 2012.

On May 1, 2012, pursuant to the mandatory tender provision, APS purchased all $32 million of the Maricopa County, Arizona Pollution Control Corporation Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds (Arizona Public Service Company Palo Verde Project), 2009 Series B, due 2029.  On June 1, 2012 we remarketed these bonds.  Currently, the interest rate on these bonds is reset daily by a remarketing agent.  The daily rate at September 30, 2012 was 0.20% per annum.  Additionally, the bonds are supported by a letter of credit.  These bonds are classified as long-term debt on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at September 30, 2012 and were classified as current maturities of long-term debt on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2011.

On June 1, 2012, pursuant to the mandatory tender provision, APS changed the interest rate mode for the approximately $38 million of Navajo County, Arizona Pollution Control Corporation Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds (Arizona Public Service Company Cholla Project), 2009 Series A.  The new term rate period for these bonds commenced on June 1, 2012, and ends, subject to a mandatory tender, on May 29, 2014.  During this time, the bonds will bear interest at a rate of 1.25% per annum.  These bonds are classified as long-term debt on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at September 30, 2012 and were classified as current maturities of long-term debt on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31, 2011.

On November 1, 2012 APS redeemed at par all $90 million of the Maricopa County, Arizona Pollution Control Corporation Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds (Arizona Public Service Company Palo Verde Project) 2002 Series A, due 2029.  The bonds were reflected as long-term debt on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2012.

At September 30, 2012, APS had two credit facilities totaling $1 billion, including a $500 million credit facility that matures in February 2015, and a $500 million facility that matures in November 2016.  APS may increase the amount of each facility up to a maximum of $700 million upon the satisfaction of certain conditions and with the consent of the lenders.  APS will use these facilities to refinance indebtedness and for other general corporate purposes.  Interest rates are based on APS’s senior unsecured debt credit ratings.

The facilities described above are available to support APS’s $250 million commercial paper program, for bank borrowings or for issuances of letters of credit.  At September 30, 2012, APS had no outstanding borrowings or outstanding letters of credit under these credit facilities, nor did it have any commercial paper borrowings.

See “Financial Assurances” in Note 10 for discussion of APS’s separate outstanding letters of credit.

Debt Fair Value

Our long-term debt fair value estimates are based on quoted market prices for the same or similar issues, and are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.  See Note 14 for discussion of the fair value hierarchy.  The following table represents the estimated fair value of our long-term debt, including current maturities (dollars in millions):

	As of September 30, 2012				As of December 31, 2011
	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Pinnacle West	$	125	$	125	$	125	$	123
APS	3,304		3,817		3,371		3,803
Total	$	3,429	$	3,942	$	3,496	$	3,926

Debt Provisions

An ACC order requires APS to maintain a common equity ratio of at least 40%.  As defined in the ACC order, the common equity ratio is total shareholder equity divided by the sum of total shareholder equity and long-term debt, including current maturities of long-term debt.  At September 30, 2012, APS was in compliance with this common equity ratio requirement.  Its total shareholder equity was approximately $4.2 billion, and total capitalization was approximately $7.4 billion.  APS would be prohibited from paying dividends if such payment would reduce its total shareholder equity below approximately $3.0 billion, assuming APS’s total capitalization remains the same.  Since APS was in compliance with this common equity ratio requirement, this restriction does not materially affect Pinnacle West’s ability to meet its ongoing cash needs or ability to pay dividends to shareholders.