Borrowings and Other Financing Instruments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Borrowings and Other Financing Instruments

Commercial Paper — NSP-Wisconsin meets its short-term liquidity requirements primarily through the issuance of commercial paper and borrowings under its credit facility. Commercial paper outstanding for NSP-Wisconsin was as follows:



(Amounts in Millions, Except Interest Rates)	Three Months Ended Sept. 30, 2014			Twelve Months Ended Dec. 31, 2013
Borrowing limit	$	150		$	150
Amount outstanding at period end	8			68
Average amount outstanding	7			20
Maximum amount outstanding	22			71
Weighted average interest rate, computed on a daily basis	0.24		%	0.31		%
Weighted average interest rate at period end	0.25			0.27

Letters of Credit — NSP-Wisconsin uses letters of credit, generally with terms of one year, to provide financial guarantees for certain operating obligations. At Sept. 30, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2013, there were no letters of credit outstanding.

Credit Facility — In order to use its commercial paper program to fulfill short-term funding needs, NSP-Wisconsin must have a revolving credit facility in place at least equal to the amount of its commercial paper borrowing limit and cannot issue commercial paper in an aggregate amount exceeding available capacity under this credit facility. The line of credit provides short-term financing in the form of notes payable to banks, letters of credit and back-up support for commercial paper borrowings.

At Sept. 30, 2014, NSP-Wisconsin had the following committed credit facility available (in millions of dollars):



Credit Facility ^(a)		Drawn ^(b)		Available
$	150.0	$	8.0	$	142.0


^(a)	Credit facility has been amended to expire in October 2019.


^(b)	Includes outstanding commercial paper.

All credit facility bank borrowings, outstanding letters of credit and outstanding commercial paper reduce the available capacity under the credit facility. NSP-Wisconsin had no direct advances on the credit facility outstanding at Sept. 30, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2013.

Amended Credit Agreement — On Oct. 14, 2014, NSP-Wisconsin entered into an amended five-year credit agreement with a syndicate of banks. The amended credit agreement has substantially the same terms and conditions as the prior credit agreement with an extension of maturity from July 2017 to October 2019. The borrowing limit for NSP-Wisconsin remained at $150 million. The Eurodollar borrowing margin on the line of credit ranges from 87.5 to 175 basis points per year based on applicable long-term credit ratings. The commitment fee, calculated on the unused portion of the line of credit, ranges from 7.5 to 27.5 basis points per year, also based on applicable long-term credit ratings.

NSP-Wisconsin has the right to request an extension of the revolving termination date for an additional one-year period, subject to majority bank group approval.

Other Short-Term Borrowings — The following table presents the notes payable of Clearwater Investments, Inc., a NSP-Wisconsin subsidiary, to Xcel Energy Inc.:



(Amounts in Millions, Except Interest Rates)	Sept. 30, 2014			Dec. 31, 2013
Notes payable to affiliates	$	0.5		$	0.5
Weighted average interest rate at period end	0.35		%	0.24		%

Long-Term Borrowings

In June 2014, NSP-Wisconsin issued $100 million of 3.30 percent first mortgage bonds due June 15, 2024.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants.

+ References+ Details