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Revolving Credit Facilities
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Line of Credit Facility [Abstract]  
Revolving Credit Facilities
REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITIES

PGE has two unsecured revolving credit facilities, with an aggregate borrowing capacity of $670 million, as follows:
 
A $370 million syndicated credit facility, of which $10 million is scheduled to terminate in July 2012 and $360 million in July 2013;
A $300 million syndicated credit facility, which is scheduled to terminate in December 2016.

Pursuant to the terms of the agreements, both credit facilities may be used for general corporate purposes and as backup for commercial paper borrowings, and also permit the issuance of standby letters of credit. PGE may borrow for one, two, three, or six months at a fixed interest rate established at the time of the borrowing, or at a variable interest rate for any period up to the then remaining term of the applicable credit facility. Both credit facilities require annual fees based on PGE’s unsecured credit ratings, and contain customary covenants and default provisions, including a requirement that limits consolidated indebtedness, as defined in the agreement, to 65.0% of total capitalization. As of December 31, 2011, PGE was in compliance with this covenant with a 51.5% debt ratio.

The Company has a commercial paper program under which it may issue commercial paper for terms of up to 270 days, limited to the unused amount of credit under the credit facilities.

Pursuant to an order issued by the FERC, the Company is authorized to issue short-term debt up to $700 million through February 6, 2014. The authorization provides that if utility assets financed by unsecured debt are divested, then a proportionate share of the unsecured debt must also be divested.

As of December 31, 2011, PGE had no borrowings and $30 million in commercial paper outstanding under the credit facilities, with $124 million in letters of credit issued. As of December 31, 2011, the aggregate unused available credit under the credit facilities is $516 million.

Short-term borrowings under these credit facilities and related interest rates were as follows (dollars in millions):
 
 
Years Ended December 31,
  
2011
 
2010
 
2009
Average daily amount of short-term debt outstanding
$
2

 
$
9

 
$
28

Weighted daily average interest rate *
0.4
%
 
0.4
%
 
1.3
%
Maximum amount outstanding during the year
$
44

 
$
51

 
$
205

 
 
 
 
 
*
Excludes the effect of commitment fees, facility fees and other financing fees.