NSP-Minnesota meets its short-term liquidity requirements primarily through the issuance of commercial paper and borrowings under its credit facility and the money pool.

Money Pool — Xcel Energy Inc. and its utility subsidiaries have established a money pool arrangement that allows for short-term investments in and borrowings between the utility subsidiaries. Xcel Energy Inc. may make investments in the utility subsidiaries at market-based interest rates; however, the money pool arrangement does not allow the utility subsidiaries to make investments in Xcel Energy Inc.


(Amounts in Millions, Except Interest Rates)	Three Months Ended March 31, 2021			Year Ended Dec. 31, 2020
Borrowing limit	$	250		$	250
Amount outstanding at period end	—			—
Average amount outstanding	24			3
Maximum amount outstanding	236			116
Weighted average interest rate, computed on a daily basis	0.07		%	1.53		%
Weighted average interest rate at period end	N/A			N/A


(Amounts in Millions, Except Interest Rates)	Three Months Ended March 31, 2021			Year Ended Dec. 31, 2020
Borrowing limit	$	500		$	500
Amount outstanding at period end	—			179
Average amount outstanding	104			10
Maximum amount outstanding	317			179
Weighted average interest rate, computed on a daily basis	0.18		%	1.25		%
Weighted average interest rate at period end	N/A			0.18

Letters of Credit — NSP-Minnesota uses letters of credit, generally with terms of one year, to provide financial guarantees for certain obligations. At March 31, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2020, there were $10 million of letters of credit outstanding under the credit facility. Amounts approximate their fair value and are subject to fees.

Revolving Credit Facility — In order to issue its commercial paper, NSP-Minnesota 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 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.

NSP-Minnesota has the right to request an extension of the revolving credit facility termination date for two additional one-year periods. All extension requests are subject to majority bank group approval.

At March 31, 2021, NSP-Minnesota had the following committed revolving credit facility available (in millions of dollars):

All credit facility bank borrowings, outstanding letters of credit and outstanding commercial paper reduce the available capacity under the credit facility. NSP-Minnesota had no direct advances on the credit facility outstanding at March 31, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2020.

Bilateral Credit Agreement — In April 2021, the uncommitted bilateral credit agreement was renewed for an additional one-year term. The credit agreement is limited in use to support letters of credit.

As of March 31, 2021, NSP-Minnesota’s outstanding letters of credit under the Bilateral Credit Agreement were as follows:

During the three months ended March 31, 2021, NSP-Minnesota issued $425 million of 2.25% first mortgage bonds due April 1, 2031 and $425 million of 3.20% first mortgage bonds due April 1, 2052.