CREDIT FACILITIES (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Short-term Debt [Line Items]

Short-term Debt [Text Block]

CREDIT FACILITY AND SHORT-TERM NOTES PAYABLE

We have a commercial paper program under which we may issue unsecured commercial paper up to a maximum amount of $700 million to fund short-term borrowing needs. The maturities of the commercial paper notes vary but may not exceed 270 days from the date of issue. The commercial paper notes are generally sold at par less a discount representing an interest factor. At September 30, 2020, we had $308.0 million of commercial paper outstanding.

The ONE Gas Credit Agreement is a $700 million revolving unsecured credit facility and includes a $20 million letter of credit subfacility and a $60 million swingline subfacility. We can request an increase in commitments of up to an additional $500 million upon satisfaction of customary conditions, including receipt of commitments from either new lenders or increased commitments from existing lenders. In October 2019, we exercised a one-year extension of the ONE Gas Credit Agreement and amended the agreement to provide that we may extend the maturity date by one year, subject to the lenders’ consent, two additional times. The ONE Gas Credit Agreement expires in October 2024, and is available to provide liquidity for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and mergers, the issuance of letters of credit and for other general corporate purposes.

The ONE Gas Credit Agreement contains certain financial, operational and legal covenants. Among other things, these covenants include maintaining ONE Gas’ total debt-to-capital ratio of no more than 70 percent at the end of any calendar quarter. At September 30, 2020, our total debt-to-capital ratio was 46 percent and we were in compliance with all covenants under the ONE Gas Credit Agreement.

At September 30, 2020, we had $1.2 million in letters of credit issued and no borrowings under the ONE Gas Credit Agreement, with $698.8 million of remaining credit, which is available to repay any of our commercial paper borrowings.

In April 2020, we entered into the ONE Gas 364-day Credit Agreement. The ONE Gas 364-day Credit Agreement is a $250 million revolving unsecured credit facility containing various customary conditions to borrowing and affirmative, negative and financial ratio maintenance covenants, all of which are substantially the same as those of the ONE Gas Credit Agreement. The ONE Gas 364-day Credit Agreement also contains provisions for an applicable margin rate and a quarterly facility fee, both of which adjust with changes in our credit rating.  Based on our current credit ratings, borrowings, if any, will accrue interest at LIBOR plus 115 basis points, and the quarterly facility fee is 10 basis points. In the event LIBOR is not available, and such circumstances are unlikely to be temporary, our lenders may establish an alternative interest rate for the impacted loans by replacing LIBOR with one or more secured overnight financing-based rates or another alternate benchmark rate. At September 30, 2020, we had no borrowings under the ONE Gas 364-day Credit Agreement.