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Borrowings and Other Financing Instruments
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
Borrowings and Other Financing Instruments
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, 2016
 
Year Ended Dec. 31, 2015
Borrowing limit
 
$
150

 
$
150

Amount outstanding at period end
 
4

 
10

Average amount outstanding
 
6

 
39

Maximum amount outstanding
 
23

 
122

Weighted average interest rate, computed on a daily basis
 
0.60
%
 
0.44
%
Weighted average interest rate at period end
 
0.60

 
0.70



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, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2015, there were no letters of credit outstanding.

Credit Facility — In order to use its commercial paper program, NSP-Wisconsin must have a 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 credit facility capacity. 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, 2016, NSP-Wisconsin had the following committed credit facility available (in millions of dollars):
Credit Facility (a)
 
Drawn (b)
 
Available
$
150

 
$
4

 
$
146


(a) 
This credit facility expires in June 2021.
(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, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2015.

Amended Credit Agreements - In June 2016, NSP-Wisconsin entered into an amended five-year credit agreement with a syndicate of banks. The total borrowing limit under the amended credit agreement remained at $150 million. The amended credit agreement has substantially the same terms and conditions as the prior credit agreement with the following exceptions:
The maturity extended from October 2019 to June 2021.
The Eurodollar borrowing margins on these lines of credit were reduced to a range of 75 to 150 basis points per year, from a range of 87.5 to 175 basis points per year, based upon applicable long-term credit ratings.
The commitment fees, calculated on the unused portion of the lines of credit, were reduced to a range of 6 to 22.5 basis points per year, from a range of 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 credit facility 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, 2016
 
Dec. 31, 2015
Notes payable to affiliates
 
$
0.5

 
$
0.5

Weighted average interest rate at period end
 
0.77
%
 
0.87
%