Financings And Capitalization

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

4:Financings and Capitalization

Financings: Presented in the following table is a summary of major long-term debt transactions during the three months ended March 31, 2018.



	Principal (In Millions)			Interest Rate		Issue/Retirement Date	Maturity Date
Debt issuances
CMS Energy, parent only
Junior subordinated notes1		$	200	5.625	%	March 2018	March 2078
Debt retirements
CMS Energy, parent only
Term loan facility		$	180	variable		March 2018	December 2018

1These unsecured obligations rank subordinate and junior in right of payment to all of CMS Energy’s existing and future senior indebtedness.

In April 2018, Consumers retired $68 million of tax-exempt pollution control revenue bonds at maturity.

Revolving Credit Facilities: The following secured revolving credit facilities with banks were available at March 31, 2018:



In Millions
Expiration Date	Amount of Facility			Amount Borrowed			Letters of Credit Outstanding			Amount Available
CMS Energy, parent only
May 27, 20221		$	550		$	50		$	1		$	499
Consumers
May 27, 20222		$	650		$	-		$	7		$	643
November 23, 20192			250			-			15			235
September 9, 20192			30			-			30			-

1During the three months ended March 31, 2018, CMS Energy’s average borrowings totaled $34 million with a weighted-average interest rate of 2.75 percent. Obligations under this facility are secured by Consumers common stock.

2Obligations under this facility are secured by first mortgage bonds of Consumers.

Short-term Borrowings: Under Consumers’ commercial paper program, Consumers may issue, in one or more placements, commercial paper notes with maturities of up to 365 days and that bear interest at fixed or floating rates. These issuances are supported by Consumers’ revolving credit facilities and may have an aggregate principal amount outstanding of up to $500 million. While the amount of outstanding commercial paper does not reduce the available capacity of the revolving credit facilities, Consumers does not intend to issue commercial paper in an amount exceeding the available capacity of the facilities. At March 31, 2018, no commercial paper notes were outstanding under this program.

Dividend Restrictions: At March 31, 2018, payment of dividends by CMS Energy on its common stock was limited to $4.6 billion under provisions of the Michigan Business Corporation Act of 1972.

Under the provisions of its articles of incorporation, at March 31, 2018, Consumers had $1.2 billion of unrestricted retained earnings available to pay dividends on its common stock to CMS Energy. Provisions of the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act appear to restrict dividends payable by Consumers to the amount of Consumers’ retained earnings. Several decisions from FERC suggest that, under a variety of circumstances, dividends from Consumers on its common stock would not be limited to amounts in Consumers’ retained earnings. Any decision by Consumers to pay dividends on its common stock in excess of retained earnings would be based on specific facts and circumstances and would be subject to a formal regulatory filing process.

For the three months ended March 31, 2018, Consumers paid $119 million in dividends on its common stock to CMS Energy.

Issuance of Common Stock: In March 2017, CMS Energy entered into an updated continuous equity offering program permitting it to sell, from time to time in “at the market” offerings, common stock having an aggregate sales price of up to $100 million. In 2017, CMS Energy issued 1,494,371 shares of common stock under this program at an average price of $47.31, resulting in net proceeds of $70 million.

Consumers Energy Company [Member]

Financings And Capitalization